The Difference in how a Galaxy Appears in Blue Light (HST/WFPC) and Infrared Light (HST/NICMOS)

NICMOS: More Than 300 Faint Galaxies

[Left] A NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the faintest galaxies ever seen in the universe, taken in infrared light with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). The picture contains over 300 galaxies having spiral, elliptical and irregular shapes....

A Spiral Galaxy From the Hubble Deep Field in Visible (left) and Infrared Light (right)

A galaxy can look quite different in visible vs infrared light. This is a comparison view of a spiral galaxy in the Hubble Deep Field - Hubble Space Telescope's view of the faintest galaxies ever seen in the universe. The galaxy is disk-shaped like our Milky Way and tilted...

NICMOS Image of Faint Galaxies

A NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the faintest galaxies ever seen in the universe, taken in infrared light with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS)

NICMOS Galaxy Candidate

Close-up view of NICMOS galaxy candidate object which may be over 12 billion light-years away

NICMOS Galaxy Candidate

Close-up view of candidate object which may be over 12 billion light-years away

Hubble Deep Field Galaxy in Visible Light

In the visible-light picture, taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in 1995, the galaxy looks uncharacteristically lumpy. That's because only the bright blue knots of starbirth are detected by the WFPC2.

Hubble Deep Field Galaxy in Infrared Light

The underlying disk structure, containing older stars, is seen clearly in this infrared Deep Field image taken with Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) in January 1998.

NICMOS Field Locator

Location of NICMOS field on WFPC2 HDF

NICMOS Image of High-z Galaxy Candidates

Location of candidate high-redshift galaxies on the Hubble Deep Field North NICMOS image.

Hubble WFPC2/NICMOS Image Comparison

Blue galaxies on WFPC2 field not detected with NICMOS

Plot of Star Formation Rate Since the Big Bang

Rates based on ground data and Hubble Deep Field data.

Plot of Star Formation Rate Since the Big Bang

Rates compared with what submillmeter observations imply.

Space Science Update: Hubble Goes To The Limit In Search Of Farthest Galaxies (Webcast)