Why would anyone aim the world’s most sophisticated telescope at the same piece of sky for 28 days in a row? Answer: because it allows astronomers to see much farther out and further back in time that ever before! American and European scientists today unveiled the deepest portrait of the visible universe ever achieved by humankind – The Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Located in the constellation of Fornax, just below the constellation of Orion the hunter, the image spans just one-tenth the diameter of the full Moon, but reveals an estimated 10,000 galaxies. The Ultra Deep Field shows galaxies that are 2-4 times fainter Hubble could see previously, so Hubble takes us to within a stone's throw of the big bang itself!
Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
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