Space
Hubble sees evolving galaxies

NASA, ESA, M. Davis (UC-Berkeley), S. Faber (UC-Santa Cruz) and A. Koekemoer

Researchers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., recently compiled more than 500 images taken with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to reveal a tapestry-style image of at least 50,000 galaxies in a small stretch of sky near the Big Dipper. The photos were taken over a year, and compiled into a single large, composite image. The “galactic tapestry” is yielding new clues about the universe’s early years and galaxy formation: Researchers have discovered a giant red galaxy with two black holes at its core, several new galaxies whose gravity bends the light from background galaxies into multiple images and a whole gallery of “rogue” galaxies that researchers can’t yet explain, according to the Space Telescope Science Institute.

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