According to information from NASA’s web site for the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have now looked deeper into the universe, and as a result, farther back in time, than ever before.
Because of the time it takes for the light to travel across the universe to us here on Earth, scientists see objects not as they are, but rather as they were, when the light left on its way to us. Even looking up at the moon, we see it as it was several seconds ago because of the distance.
The recent observation using the HST, peered into what is believed to be a compact galaxy consisting of dim blue stars. The galaxy is some 13.2 billion light years away. With the age of the universe estimated to be about 13.7 billion years, scientists are seeing this galaxy as it was just about 480 million years after the birth of the universe as we know it today. This recent discovery also gives scientists a better understanding of just how soon after the big bang, the first stars were formed. The answer is much earlier than originally believed.