The 1995 Hubble photo that changed astronomy

The Hubble Deep Field, explained by the man who made it happen.

If you hold a pin at arm’s length up in the air, the head of the pin covers approximately the amount of sky that appears in the Hubble Deep Field. The iconic 1995 image is crowded, not because it’s a broad swath of sky but because it’s a broad swath of time. The Hubble Deep Field is more than 12 billion light-years deep.

Robert Williams was the director of the Hubble’s science institute back in 1995, and it was his decision to attempt a deep field observation with the telescope. Previous calculations had indicated that Hubble would not be able to detect very distant galaxies, but Williams figured they’d never know unless they tried.

His team chose a completely dark part of the sky, in order to see beyond the stars of the Milky Way, and programmed Hubble to stare at that spot for 10 days. It was unusual to use precious observing time to point the telescope at nothing in particular, but that’s what they did.

"We didn’t know what was there, and that was the whole purpose of the observation, basically — to get a core sample of the universe," Williams said, borrowing the concept of the "core sample" from the earth sciences.

"You do the same thing if you're trying to understand the geology of the Earth: Pick some typical spot to drill down to try to understand exactly what the various layers of the Earth are and what they mean in terms of its geologic history."

What makes the Hubble Deep Field an atypical core sample is that rather than observing the material as it is now, the telescope collected images of galaxies as they appeared millions and billions of years ago. Since light can only travel so fast, the telescope is a peephole into the history of the universe.

[spetsnatzlegion]

‘Aight so there’s nothing over here, why not point a telescope at it?’
*proceeds to photograph the history of the universe*

[Danymok]

Government: "We wasted 2 billion dollars over 12 years"

Also Government: *"We're OK with spending TRILLIONS on a single military aircraft program"*

[JesseH]

"Spending 2 billion over twelve years.."
That's the cost of our defense budget every 24.2 hours.

[dice]

Imagine at this exact moment.. A race from another planet from a distant galaxy is also looking at the stars wondering if there are other life out there

[rander]

To say, "There're billions and billions of galaxies out there, " is one thing. To see an image showing it is profound. Extraordinarily powerful photograph.

[SeismicShift]

Is it me or is Vox's videos amazingly well done? I seriously can't stop watching them.

[alexstephenson]

I can never understand how people think that Earth is the only planet that can sustain life. Every time i watch a video about space, I'm in awe at the amount of galaxies holding infinite planets there actually are.

[joewhite]

My grandfather a aerospace engineer worked on The Hubble Space Telescope. He had (and now I have after he passed) a piece of the insulation from the telescope secured in a glass award. It says on the front with the gold side, “For Dedication and Service to the Hubble Space Telescope!” Above The Silver side the top Back says, “This Piece Of Multilayered Insulation Flew on the Hubble Space Telescope April 25, 1990-December 24, 1999.” It’s one of my most prized possessions. I can’t wait to tell my kids about their great grandfather. Humans, scientists, engineers and especially, rocket scientists are incredible.

[uzii]

Just imagine this. We look at a planet that has advanced life but we do not know because it is a million light years away and the life only formed 10000 years ago.

[randommetalhead]

The most beautiful photo ever taken in history.

[Thinkbeforeyoureply]

Nothing has moved me more than that image. As a kid, I was always looking up at the night sky, pondering its awesomeness. In 1996, when I first saw the deep field, I was overwhelmed by the time that we could view. That those little light particles landed on Hubble to reveal so much of what our universe is, was massive. To this day, I contemplate that image on a regular basis.

[philiproe]

Just imagine what the JWT will capture when it eventually launches.

[Exantrn]

I'd love to see the James Webb telescope do its own version of the Hubble Deep Field when it finally launches

[carlosfelipeaguiar]

Vox's video edit equip is the best on youtube, I guess.

[WeabeOfficialMusic]

It depresses me that I won't get to see human beings travel to another Galaxy.
I can't die, I need to see it happen

[myhm]

The saddest thing is loads of people don't even care about this image and it's significance

[MrTheenDx]

Vox is now becoming my favorite YouTube channel in my subscription list. Well done videos and interesting topics.

[robertschlesinger]

These Hubble Deep Field and Ultra Deep Field images may logically be argued to be the most important images ever taken. They indicate, amongst many other things, that the number of galaxies in the visible universe is approximately 200 billion. This estimate has recently been revised upward to far more galaxies, with each galaxy typically having a hundred billion or hundreds of billions of stars. The numbers are mind-boggling and have major implications in many fields.

[raveballs]

The most important photo ever taken by man. Had an AHA moment first time i ever saw it that we're definitely not alone in the universe. Always set this as my background image for my computers and cell phones.

[dipanshuc]

Hubble Deep Field is such a mind-blowing image. Everytime I see it, I see something new and amazing. I have saved it my wallpaper and I often end up just staring at my screen.