Credit: NASA, ESA and the HST Frontier Fields team (STScI)
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)
Peering deep into the early Universe, this picturesque parallel field
observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals thousands
of colourful galaxies swimming in the inky blackness of space. A few
foreground stars from our own galaxy, the Milky Way, are also visible.
In October 2013 Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) began observing this portion of sky as part of the Frontier Fields programme. This spectacular skyscape was captured during the study of the giant galaxy cluster Abell 2744,
otherwise known as Pandora’s Box. While one of Hubble’s cameras
concentrated on Abell 2744, the other camera viewed this adjacent patch
of sky near to the cluster.
Containing countless galaxies of various ages, shapes and sizes, this parallel field observation is nearly as deep as the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field.
In addition to showcasing the stunning beauty of the deep Universe in
incredible detail, this parallel field — when compared to other deep
fields — will help astronomers understand how similar the Universe looks
in different directions
Source: ESA/Hubble - Space Telescope
