Hubble Extreme Deep Field facts for kids
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The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) is a super-detailed picture of a tiny part of space. It's like looking through a keyhole into the very distant universe. This amazing image is found in the middle of another famous picture, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. It points towards a group of stars called Fornax. The XDF shows us the deepest view into space we've ever seen using light.
The XDF image was shared on September 25, 2012. Scientists combined 10 years of images to create it. It shows galaxies that are over 13.2 billion years old. Imagine how old that is! The camera collected light for two million seconds, which is about 23 days. The dimmest galaxies are incredibly faint. They are one ten-billionth as bright as what your eye can see. Many of the smaller galaxies in the picture are very young. Some of these young galaxies grew into big ones, like our own Milky Way galaxy. They became part of our galactic neighborhood.
The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field added 5,500 more galaxies to Hubble's earlier views from 2003 and 2004. It really helps us see even further into the universe.
Exploring the eXtreme Deep Field
The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field helps us understand the early universe. It shows us how galaxies looked when they were very young. By looking so far away, we are actually looking back in time. This is because light takes a long time to travel across space.
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This is the XDF view from 2012. Each tiny speck of light is a galaxy. Some are 13.2 billion years old. Scientists think the universe has 200 billion galaxies!
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The XDF image shows different types of galaxies. Mature galaxies are closer to us. Nearly mature galaxies are from 5 to 9 billion years ago. Beyond 9 billion years, we see protogalaxies, which are very young galaxies forming.
Related space discoveries
- Big Bang
- Universe
- Hubble Deep Field
- Hubble Deep Field South
- Hubble Space Telescope
Images for kids
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The original NASA image. It shows galaxies of different ages, sizes, and colors. The smallest, reddest galaxies are very distant. They probably existed soon after the Big Bang.
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This image shows where the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field is in the sky.
