NASA's Hubble Legacy Field image contains 16 years of data



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It encompasses a region of the sky that includes those shown in older Hubble mosaics – Ultra Deep Field and eXtreme Deep Field – and contains 265,000 galaxies. This is 30 times more galaxies than the previous deep field images, enough to cover an area almost as wide as the moon.

While eXtreme Deep Field is still our deepest gaze on the universe, Legacy Field also gives us insight into the first cosmos – a time "where small and young galaxies clashed and merged with others", explained NASA. It shows the state of galaxies 13.3 billion years ago, 500 million years after the Big Bang.

NASA stated that no image would extend beyond the scope of the Legacy field until future telescopes make their way into orbit. This could take years and years, as the James Webb telescope, which will succeed Hubble, will not be launched until 2021.

Garth Illingworth, who led the team that assembled the image, said:

"This picture contains the whole story of the growth of galaxies in the universe, from their childhood to their growth into" full-fledged adults … "We have designed this mosaic as a tool to use. and by other astronomers.We hope this study will lead to an even more consistent, in-depth and in-depth understanding of the evolution of the universe in the coming years. "

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