NASA photos
Astronomer Matthew Lehnert of the Paris Observatory and a team of astronomers taking part in the human journey to the beginning of the universe recently noticed a small smudge of light on photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope earlier this year. A small smudge of light they now believe could represent light from the earliest galaxy the human journey to the beginning of space and time has viewed up till now, some 13.1 billion years in the past. If current estimates of the age of the universe are correct? This represents a time when the universe was only about 600 million years old and this early galaxy must surely have merged with neighbors in titanic collisions and wouldn't therefore resemble its early form.

We should probably wait until the calculations of this team of astronomers has been verified by other scientists, before we start celebrating, or making pronouncements about what this news means. At this point this oldest ever galaxy doesn't even have a name, nothing but a series of letters and numbers to designate it, and maybe for now this is how we should leave it. The light from this galaxy left on its journey to our eyes 13.1 billion years ago and was full of blue light from massive young blue stars formed after the Big Bang. A discovery that must have astronomers excited since this would certainly fit with present theories concerning the forming of the first stars and galaxies.

13.1 billion years is certainly pushing the limits of the Hubble Space Telescope and we'll have to wait a little longer until the James Webb Space Telescope or planned ground-based Giant Magellan Telescope, before astronomers will be able to continue the human journey to the beginning of the universe. We'll certainly cover this moment in space and time in the human journey to the beginning of space and time, and get back to you with the latest news once the journey continues.