ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Image

Updated on February 3, 2012

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is an image of a small region of space taken by the Hubble Space Telescope between 24th September 2003 and 16th January 2004. The image required 800 exposures taken over the course of 400 Hubble orbits around the Earth with a total exposure time of 11.3 days.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field

So, what's so remarkable about this particular photo? We have all seen pictures of stars, and galaxies, and nebulas before. What we see is just a background of black, with some spots of light and a dash of colour.

Well, the area of the sky that this image was taken from is largely empty. So, every single point of light that you see is a galaxy. And a galaxy is many, many millions of stars, just like our sun. And remember that that is just one point of light.

And there are many points of lights in the image, Although you can't see it in the image, the actual image has nearly 10,000 galaxies. I don't even want to try to write down in numbers how many stars that is. It is an extremely big number.

I know of one author who calls this image the "single most important picture ever taken by humanity".

Why?

Some people see God in the picture. The picture really captures the sheer size and complexity of the universe of which we are a part. And something of such scale and grandeur just goes to show that there has to be a grand design - it is just inconceivable that it can come about by chance.

Some people see the picture as proof that we are not alone in the universe. With the universe being so big, somewhere, somehow, sometime, sentient life must have come about. It would be rather arrogant to think that in all of this space, we are the only one that have happened.

For me, it puts things perspective. Things that were significant to me, like a quarrel with a friend, or work issues, just melts into nothing. In my life, there is a bigger picture that I am working for, and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image reminds me of what's important.

Too often we are distracted by life's little irritations, allowing ourselves to be carried away by our pride. And if we are not careful, we can spend our whole lives being carried away.

Read what you will from the image but you cannot help but be inspired by it. I would look at it as a picture of the future of humanity.

And, one last thing.

The image is from an area of the sky one tenth the size of the full moon. The next time you see a full moon, imagine an area one tenth the size of the moon, and fit the 10,000 galaxies in the Hubble image into that tiny area.

And then gaze at the night sky and imagine how many more galaxies there really are.

============================

To view the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image at the highest resolution, click here.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field In 3D

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)