News

06March201617:38:53

Hubblebreakscosmicdistancerecord[heic1604]
03March2016
BypushingtheNASA/ESAHubbleSpaceTelescopetoitslimitsastronomershaveshatteredthecosmic
distancerecordbymeasuringthedistancetothemostremotegalaxyeverseenintheUniverse.This
galaxyexistedjust400millionyearsaftertheBigBangandprovidesnewinsightsintothefirstgeneration
ofgalaxies.Thisisthefirsttimethatthedistanceofanobjectsofarawayhasbeenmeasuredfromits
spectrum,whichmakesthemeasurementextremelyreliable.Theresultswillbepublishedinthe
AstrophysicalJournal.

TheremotegalaxyGNz11.Credit:NASA,ESA,andP.Oesch(YaleUniversity)
UsingtheNASA/ESAHubbleSpaceTelescopeaninternationalteamofastronomershasmeasuredthe
distancetothisnewgalaxy,namedGNz11.Althoughextremelyfaint,thegalaxyisunusuallybright
consideringitsdistancefromEarth.ThedistancemeasurementofGNz11providesadditionalstrong
evidencethatotherunusuallybrightgalaxiesfoundinearlierHubbleimagesarereallyatextraordinary
distances,showingthatweareclosinginonthefirstgalaxiesthatformedintheUniverse.
Previously,astronomershadestimatedGNz11'sdistancebyanalysingitscolourinimagestakenwithboth
HubbleandtheNASASpitzerSpaceTelescope.Now,forthefirsttimeforagalaxyatsuchanextreme
distance,theteamhasusedHubble'sWideFieldCamera3(WFC3)topreciselymeasurethedistancetoGN
z11spectroscopicallybysplittingthelightintoitscomponentcolours.
"Ourspectroscopicobservationsrevealthegalaxytobeevenfurtherawaythanwehadoriginallythought,
rightatthedistancelimitofwhatHubblecanobserve,"explainsGabrielBrammeroftheSpaceTelescope
ScienceInstituteandsecondauthorofthestudy.
ThisputsGNz11atadistancethatwasoncethoughtonlytobereachablewiththeupcoming
NASA/ESA/CSAJamesWebbSpaceTelescope(JWST)[1].
"We'vetakenamajorstepbackintime,beyondwhatwe'deverexpectedtobeabletodowithHubble.We

managedtolookbackintimetomeasurethedistancetoagalaxywhentheUniversewasonlythreepercent
ofitscurrentage,"saysPascalOeschofYaleUniversityandleadauthorofthepaper.
Todeterminelargedistances,liketheonetoGNz11,astronomersmeasuretheredshiftoftheobserved
object.ThisphenomenonisaresultoftheexpansionoftheUniverseeverydistantobjectintheUniverse
appearstoberecedingfromusandasaresultitslightisstretchedtolonger,redderwavelengths.
BeforeastronomersdeterminedthedistancetoGNz11,themostdistantmeasuredgalaxy,EGSY8p7,hada
redshiftof8.68.Now,theteamhasconfirmedGNz11'sdistancetobeataredshiftof11.1,which
correspondsto400millionyearsaftertheBigBang.
"Thepreviousrecordholderwasseeninthemiddleoftheepochwhenstarlightfromprimordialgalaxies
wasbeginningtoheatandliftafogofcold,hydrogengas,"explainscoauthorRychardBouwensfromthe
UniversityofLeiden,theNetherlands."Thistransitionalperiodisknownasthereionisationera.GNz11is
observed150millionyearsearlier,neartheverybeginningofthistransitionintheevolutionofthe
Universe."
ThecombinationofobservationstakenbyHubbleandSpitzerrevealedthattheinfantgalaxyis25times
smallerthantheMilkyWayandhasjustonepercentofourgalaxy'smassinstars.However,thenumberof
starsinthenewbornGNz11isgrowingfast:Thegalaxyisformingstarsatarateabout20timesgreater
thantheMilkyWaydoestoday[2].Thishighstarformationratemakestheremotegalaxybrightenough
forHubbletoseeandtoperformdetailedobservations.
However,thediscoveryalsoraisesmanynewquestionsastheexistenceofsuchabrightandlargegalaxy
isnotpredictedbytheory."It'samazingthatagalaxysomassiveexistedonly200millionto300million
yearsaftertheveryfirststarsstartedtoform.Ittakesreallyfastgrowth,producingstarsatahugerate,to
haveformedagalaxythatisabillionsolarmassessosoon,"explainsGarthIllingworthoftheUniversityof
California,SantaCruz.
MarijnFranx,amemberoftheteamfromtheUniversityofLeidenhighlights:"ThediscoveryofGNz11was
agreatsurprisetous,asourearlierworkhadsuggestedthatsuchbrightgalaxiesshouldnotexistsoearly
intheUniverse."HiscolleagueIvoLabbeadds:"ThediscoveryofGNz11showedusthatourknowledge
abouttheearlyUniverseisstillveryrestricted.HowGNz11wascreatedremainssomewhatofamysteryfor
now.Probablyweareseeingthefirstgenerationsofstarsformingaroundblackholes?"
ThesefindingsprovideatantalisingpreviewoftheobservationsthattheJamesWebbSpaceTelescopewill
perform."ThisnewdiscoveryshowsthatJWSTwillsurelyfindmanysuchyounggalaxiesreachingbackto
whenthefirstgalaxieswereforming,"concludesIllingworth.

Notes
[1]TheNASA/ESA/CSAJamesWebbSpaceTelescopeisacollaborationbetweenNASA,theEuropean
SpaceAgency(ESA)andtheCanadianSpaceAgency(CSA).Itisscheduledforlaunchin2018.
[2]GNz11transformsabout24solarmassesofgasanddustperyearintonewstars.

Moreinformation
TheHubbleSpaceTelescopeisaprojectofinternationalcooperationbetweenESAandNASA.
TheinternationalteamofastronomersinthisstudyconsistsofP.A.Oesch(YaleUniversity,USA),
G.Brammer(STScI,USA),P.G.vanDokkum(YaleUniversity,USA),G.D.Illingworth(UniversityofCalifornia,
SantaCruz,USA),R.J.Bouwens(LeidenUniversity,Netherlands),I.Labbe(LeidenUniversity,
Netherlands),M.Franx(LeidenUniversity,Netherlands),I.Momcheva(HarvardSmithsonianCenterfor
Astrophysics,USA),M.L.N.Ashby(HarvardSmithsonianCenterforAstrophysics,USA),G.G.Fazio
(HarvardSmithsonianCenterforAstrophysics,USA),V.Gonzalez(UniversityofCalifornia,Riverside,USA),
B.Holden(UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,USA),D.Magee(UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,USA),
R.E.Skelton(SouthAfricanAstronomicalObservatory,SouthAfrica),R.Smit(DurhamUniversity,UK),L.
R.Spitler(MacquarieUniversityAustralianAstronomicalObservatory,Australia),M.Trenti(Universityof
Melbourne,Australia),S.P.Willner(HarvardSmithsonianCenterforAstrophysics,USA)

Contacts
PascalOesch
YaleUniversity
USA
Tel:+012034369476
Email:pascal.oesch yale.edu
GabrielBrammer
SpaceTelescopeScienceInstitute
USA
Tel:+014103382447
Email:brammer stsci.edu
GarthIllingworth

UniversityofCaliforniaatSantaCruz

USA

Tel:+018314592843
Email:gdi ucolick.org
RychardBouwens
UniversityofLeiden
theNetherlands
Tel:+31715278456
Email:bouwens strw.leidenuniv.nl
MarijnFranx
UniversityofLeiden
theNetherlands
Tel:+31715278456
Email:franx strw.leidenuniv.nl
MathiasJger
ESA/Hubble,PublicInformationOfficer
Garching,Germany
Tel:+4917662397500
Email:mjaeger partner.eso.org
LastUpdate:03March2016
Forfurtherinformationpleasecontact:SciTech.editorial@esa.int

ImagesAndVideos
Mostdistantgalaxy(http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=57531)
Hubblespectroscopicallyconfirmsremotestgalaxytoday(http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?
oid=57532)

RelatedLinks
Relatedvideos[heic1604](http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/?search=heic1604)

RelatedPublications
Oesch,P.A.,etal.[2016]preprint(http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1603.00461)