NASA Announcement Opens New Vistas In Astronomy

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CALIFORNIA (GaeaTimes.com)- In yet another giant leap for mankind, NASA announced yesterday, Jan 26, 2011, that they have come across a galaxy whose existence was hitherto unknown. Presently named UDFj-39546284, the galaxy has been discovered with the help of the Hubble telescope, which is fitted with the Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, an installation that enables scientists to look further than ever into the universe. According to reports, the galaxy is ancient, formed in the days of the Universe’s infancy, and is located about 13.2 billion light years away.

The NASA announcement comes as a tremendous help to the astronomers around the world. Since it is being assumed that the galaxy is one of the oldest, having formed in the earliest days of the universe, scientists hope that it would be able to shed considerable light on the days when the universe was a mere infant, which has so far been obscure, and subject to much guesswork. However, scientists also state that it is possible that they would not be able to glean as much information from the galaxy as they are hoping, give that it is only a projection of light that they are seeing. NASA adds to the report that there is considerable chance that the galaxy no longer exists.

UDFj-39546284 is, according to the NASA announcement, the oldest and furthest galaxy to have been discovered so far. Despite all the doubts, researchers are hopeful, and state that whatever the present status of the galaxy, it is certain to impart valuable information regarding the formation of the universe, particularly on the study of the coalescence of the earliest galaxies and the gap between their formations.