HDUV GOODS-North Field
Astronomers using the ultraviolet vision of NASA’s Hubble Space
Telescope have captured one of the largest panoramic views of the fire
and fury of star birth in the distant universe. The field features
approximately 15,000 galaxies, about 12,000 of which are forming stars.
Hubble’s ultraviolet vision opens a new window on the evolving universe,
tracking the birth of stars over the last 11 billion years back to the
cosmos’ busiest star-forming period, which happened about 3 billion
years after the big bang.
Ultraviolet light has been the missing piece to the cosmic puzzle.
Now, combined with infrared and visible-light data from Hubble and other
space and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have assembled one of
the most comprehensive portraits yet of the universe’s evolutionary
history.
The image straddles the gap between the very distant galaxies, which
can only be viewed in infrared light, and closer galaxies, which can be
seen across a broad spectrum. The light from distant star-forming
regions in remote galaxies started out as ultraviolet. However, the
expansion of the universe has shifted the light into infrared
wavelengths. By comparing images of star formation in the distant and
nearby universe, astronomers glean a better understanding of how nearby
galaxies grew from small clumps of hot, young stars long ago.
Because Earth’s atmosphere filters most ultraviolet light, Hubble can
provide some of the most sensitive space-based ultraviolet observations
possible.
The program, called the Hubble Deep UV (HDUV) Legacy Survey, extends
and builds on the previous Hubble multi-wavelength data in the
CANDELS-Deep (Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy
Survey) fields within the central part of the GOODS (The Great
Observatories Origins Deep Survey) fields. This mosaic is 14 times the
area of the Hubble Ultra Violet Ultra Deep Field released in 2014.
This image is a portion of the GOODS-North field, which is located in the northern constellation Ursa Major.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space
Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts
Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.
Related Links
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- The science paper by P. Oesch et al.
- NASA's Hubble Portal
- GOODS-North Field
- GOODS-South Field
- Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
- MAST Portal for Hubble Deep UV (HDUV) Legacy Survey
Contact
Ann Jenkins / Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
410-338-4488 / 410-338-4514
jenkins@stsci.edu / villard@stsci.edu
Pascal Oesch
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
011-41-22-379-2466
pascal.oesch@unige.ch
Mireia Montes
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
011-61-2-9385-6694
m.montes@unsw.edu.au
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
410-338-4488 / 410-338-4514
jenkins@stsci.edu / villard@stsci.edu
Pascal Oesch
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
011-41-22-379-2466
pascal.oesch@unige.ch
Mireia Montes
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
011-61-2-9385-6694
m.montes@unsw.edu.au
Source: HubbleSite/News
