Out to the Stars

For ten consecutive days in December 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope looked deep into space—and back in time. Using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, scientists took 342 separate exposures that they assembled into one image: the Hubble Deep Field.

Covering a patch of sky only about the width of a dime as seen from 23 meters (75 feet) away, the Hubble Deep Field revealed at least 1,500 galaxies in various stages of evolution. “As the images have come up on our screens,” Hubble director Robert Williams said, “we have not been able to keep from wondering if we might somehow be seeing our own origins in all of this.”

Other Hubble Images

Gas Pillars in the Eagle Nebula

Ultra Deep Field image

Sombrero Galaxy

Saturn

Photo credits: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

For these and other Hubble images, see the web site for the Space Telescope Science Institute.