NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found what astronomers believe to be the most distant object ever seen in the universe, 13.2 billion light years away. This places the object roughly 150 million light years more distant than the previous record holder.
The dim object is a compact galaxy made of blue stars that existed only 480 million years after the Big Bang. More than 100 such mini-galaxies would be needed to make up our Milky Way. Previous searches had found 47 galaxies at somewhat later times, when the universe was about 650 million years old. The rate of star birth therefore increased by about 10 times in the interval from 480 million years to 650 million years.
The even more distant proto galaxies will require the infrared vision of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is the successor to Hubble, and next-generation ground-based telescopes, such as the Giant Magellan Telescope. These new facilities, planned for later this decade, will provide confirming spectroscopic measurements of the tremendous distance of the object being reported today.
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