Astro-image of the Day: youngest and brightest galaxy ever photographed

Here's a pretty picture of deepest space, taken by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Scientists studying the image discovered the youngest and brightest galaxy we've ever seen. This is looking into the past 12.8 billion years, into the distance 12.8 billion light-years: We're talking almost the beginning of the universe! Most galaxies were only loose gatherings of stars at that time, so this teaches us new things about galaxy formation. Here's the photo:

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Note the many well-formed galaxies in the photo: Those are much nearer to us, and their gravity creates the curving distortion of the galaxies in the background, an effect called "gravitational lensing." Take a look at the larger image, below, for more details:

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Best,
Chris