Good evening, stargazers! Today is December 12th, and we're celebrating one of the most electrifying moments in modern astronomical history!
On this date in 2002, the Hubble Space Telescope captured something that made astronomers around the world do a collective double-take: it detected the deepest, most distant galaxies ever seen at that time in what we call the **Hubble Ultra Deep Field** observations. Now, while the full iconic image wasn't released until 2004, the observations that began on this very day were revolutionary!
Picture this: Hubble pointed its mighty eye at what appeared to be an absolutely *boring* patch of sky in the constellation Fornax—an area so small that if you held a grain of sand at arm's length, it would cover more sky. Yet in that infinitesimal cosmic real estate, Hubble found approximately **10,000 galaxies**! That's right—ten thousand!
What makes this absolutely mind-bending is that many of these galaxies are so distant that we're seeing them as they were over 13 billion years ago, essentially looking back in time to when the universe was in its cosmic infancy. It's like Hubble became a time machine, peering through the universe's family photo album!
This observation fundamentally changed how we understand galactic distribution and the sheer scale of the cosmos. We went from thinking the universe was lonely to realizing it's absolutely *teeming* with galaxies beyond our wildest imagination.
**Be sure to subscribe to the Astronomy Tonight podcast** so you never miss these cosmic discoveries! And if you want more information about tonight's sky or any astronomical events, check out **QuietPlease dot AI**. Thank you for listening to another Quiet Please production!
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
Episode Transcript
This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast. Good evening, Stargrazers. Today
is December twelfth, and we're celebrating one of the most
electrifying moments in modern astronomical history. On this date. In
two thousand and two, the Hubble Space telescope captured something
that made astronomers around the world do a collective double take.
It detected the deepest, most distant galaxies ever seen at
(00:21):
that time in what we call the Hubble Ultra Deep
Field Observations. Now, while the full iconic image wasn't released
until two thousand and four, the observations that began on
this very day were revolutionary. Picture this Hubble pointed its
mighty eye at what appeared to be an absolutely boring
patch of sky in the Constellation Fornex. An area is
(00:42):
so small that if you held a grain of sanded
arm's length it would cover more sky. Yet in that
infinitesimal cosmic real estate, Hubble found approximately ten thousand galaxies.
That's right, ten thousand. What makes this absolutely mind bending
is that many of these galaxies are so distant that
were seeing them as they were over thirteen billion years ago,
(01:04):
essentially looking back in time to when the universe was
in its cosmic infancy. It's like Hubble became a time
machine peering through the universe's family photo album. This observation
fundamentally changed how we understand galactic distribution and the sheer
scale of the cosmos. We went from thinking the universe
was lonely to realizing its absolutely teeming with galaxies beyond
(01:26):
our wildest imagination. Be sure to subscribe to the Astronomy
Tonight podcast so you never miss these cosmic discoveries, and
if you want more information about tonight's sky or any
astronomical events, check out Quiet Pleas dot ai. Thank you
for listening to another Quiet Please production
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.