The Hubble Deep Fields:
How Hubble has observed the furthest away galaxies
and the most ancient starlight ever seen by humankind
One of the main scientific justifications for building Hubble was to measure the
size and age of the Universe and test theories about its origin. Images of faint galaxies give “fossil” clues as to how the Universe looked in the remote past and how
it may have evolved with time. The Deep Fields gave astronomers the first really
clear look back to the time when galaxies were forming. The first deep fields —
Hubble Deep Field North and South — gave astronomers a peephole to the ancient Universe for the first time, and caused a real revolution in modern astronomy.
Representing a narrow “keyhole” view of the universe, the original Hubble
Deep Field image covers a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75
feet away. Credit: Robert Williams,