NASA’s James Webb space telescope has captured a new photo of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), a region of space found within the Fornax constellation. This constellation is in the southern sky and for the longest time, has been considered one of (if not the) deepest looks into our universe we’ve ever taken.
Webb’s view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field hasn’t necessarily led to a huge discovery of new galaxies, as the new telescope viewed the region at a depth similar to that of Hubble. It managed to take the image of the HUDF within a tenth the time Hubble spent observing.
This feat is remarkable, since Hubble took 11. 3 days to capture the photo of the HUDF. Webb took its picture of the HUDF just a few 20 minutes. And, because Webb is much stronger than Hubble, it’s also revealing new, young galaxies that Hubble couldn’t detect, though not in extreme levels as you might expect.
Astronomers say that Webb’s photo of the HUDF allows us to view hot, ionized gas, which allows us to pinpoint exactly where new star formation is taking place. This updated image allows us to see the existing stars and determine what is new.
The HUDF was originally so well-lauded because of how deep it peered into space. When the image was originally captured in 2003, it showed us our first glimpse at galaxies that aged back to 800 million years after the Big Bang, effectively making a gateway into the early universe.
Now Webb’s captured a picture of the HUDF we will be able piece together more information about the early universe and possibly reveal more secrets. Secrets that continue to challenge everything we know about the universe and how it has evolved over the past several billion years.
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