Hubble telescope sees furthest galaxy, 13.2 billion light years from Earth

If you think Star Wars took place in a galaxy far, far away, you should probably prepare to have your perceptions of distance rocked. NASA astronomers believe they’ve laid their eyes what appears to be the most distant object ever spotted by humans… in the history of mankind, no less. The galaxy was first peeked back in 2009, but NASA has just confirmed (via that trusty Hubble contraption) that what it saw is actually the oldest known galaxy in existence. At a distance of 13.2 billion light years away, this galaxy is a staggering 150 million years older than the previous record-setting collection of stars. The cluster of blue stars is just a tiny galaxy, though — NASA says you’d need hundreds of these little groups to make up our Milky Way. Head past the break for a closer shot of the constellation, otherwise known as a nondescript red pixel. Continue reading Hubble telescope sees furthest galaxy, 13.2 billion light years from Earth Hubble telescope sees furthest galaxy, 13.2 billion light years from Earth originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on January 27, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry