Suggested Searches

1 min read

GOODS-S/ERS2 Field (Hubble)

Telescope image of thousands of galaxies of different sizes, shapes, and colors.

This is a Hubble Space Telescope view of a portion of GOODS-South, the southern field of a large deep-sky study by several observatories to trace the formation and evolution of galaxies. The image shows a rich tapestry of 7,500 galaxies stretching back through most of the universe's history. The farthest galaxies, a few of the very faint red specks, are seen as they appeared more than 13 billion years ago, or roughly 650 million years after the Big Bang. Soon, the James Webb Space Telescope will peer back even farther into this field to trace the formation and evolution of the very first galaxies.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    03h 32m 40.23s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -27° 43' 9.86"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Fornax
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    This image is approximately 9.68 arcminutes wide by 4.27 arcminutes high.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The image was created from Hubble WFC3 data from proposal 11359, R. O'Connell (University of Virginia) and collaborators, combined with the HST/ACS GOODS v2.0, which includes data from proposals 9425 and 9583, P.I. M. Giavalisco; 9727, P.I. Saul Perlmutter; 9728, 10339, and 10340, P.I. A. Riess.

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/WFC, HST>WFC3/UVIS, and HST>WFC3/IR
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    Sept. 2002 - Dec. 2004, Exposure Time: 96 orbits (ACS) and Sept. 6, 2009 - Oct. 11, 2009, Exposure Time: 104 orbits (WFC3)
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    WFC3/IR: F098M, F125W, and F160W ACS/WFC: F435W, F606W, F775W, and F850LP WFC3/UVIS: F225W, F275W, and F336W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    GOODS-S/ERS, GOODS South Field WFC3 Early Release Science Data (GOODS-S WFC3 ERS), Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S)
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Cosmological Survey
  • Release Date
    January 15, 2021
  • Science Release
    Back to the Beginning: Probing the First Galaxies with Webb
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU), S. Cohen (ASU), M. Mechtley (ASU), M. Rutkowski (ASU), Robert O'Connell (UVA), P. McCarthy (OCIW), N. Hathi (UC Riverside), R. Ryan (UC Davis), Haojing Yan (OSU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 6455 × 2848
    tif (40.35 MB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 6455 × 2848
    png (30.91 MB)
  • 2000 × 882
    png (2.95 MB)
Telescope image of thousands of galaxies of different sizes, shapes, and colors.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFC3 and ACS instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. In total, 10 filters were used to sample a very wide wavelength range. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to combinations of the monochromatic images. In this case, the assigned colors are:  Red: WFC3/IR F125W + F160W Green: ACS/WFC F606W + F775W + F850LP + WFC3/IR F098M Blue: WFC3/UVIS F225W + F275W + F336W + ACS/WFC F435W

Share

Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU), S. Cohen (ASU), M. Mechtley (ASU), M. Rutkowski (ASU), Robert O’Connell (UVA), P. McCarthy (OCIW), N. Hathi (UC Riverside), R. Ryan (UC Davis), Haojing Yan (OSU), Anton Koekemoer (STScI)