astronomer have used the Hubble Space Telescope to develop one of the large samples of early galaxies know . The target are also the smallest galaxies ever seen by Hubble from that time .
The outside squad , led by Hakim Atek of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , Switzerland , used a phenomenon called gravitational lensing to look further into the creation than ever before . Gravitational lens system make when wandflower , or clusters of galaxies , are so monolithic that they deform space - prison term around them , magnifying and deforming the light coming from setting object .
The scientist study images from three galaxy cluster observe by theHubble Frontier Fields program . The full program will study an additional three beetleweed cluster and explore some of the most aloof regions of space . The enquiry is published in theAstrophysical Journal .
The team found 250 galaxies dating between 600 and 950 million years after the Big Bang . The galaxies lived through the epoch of reionization , a mystical form of the universe that bump between 150 million and 1 billion age after the Big Bang . During this time , the universe was unintelligible because hydrogen clouds blocked ultraviolet ( UV ) light . ultraviolet illumination luminosity is powerful enough to free the negatron in hydrogen atoms , turn hydrogen gas into plasma . As more and more champion work , more UV light was emitted and so more atomic number 1 was turned into plasma and , over clip , this made the universe transparent .
The team believe that these primordial galaxies played a major role during the reionization epoch . The scientist are confident that the smallest galax were also the most common , and the entire light breathe by these galaxies is comparable with emissions from the largest galaxy .
“ The promising and massive coltsfoot alone are not enough to account for reionization , ” said Atek in astatement . “ We require to take into account the donation of a more abundant population of light dwarf galaxies . ”
The discovery shows the potential difference of the Frontier Fields program : astronomer are able-bodied to examine the very dawn of galaxies by tap the cluster of galaxies ’ gravitational lensing , detailed description of the exaggeration patterns and Hubble ’s own power .
The launching of the more muscular James Webb Space Telescope in a few years could push that frontier even further , to watch the light of the first stars in the cosmos .
