Ultra Deep Field: Looking Out into Space, Looking Back into Time

This six-minute visual exploration of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field showcases the characteristics and contents of this landmark observation, as well as its four-dimensional nature across both space and time. In particular, galaxies are seen to more than 12 billion light-years away / 12 billion years ago, allowing astronomers to trace the development of galaxies across cosmic time. A deep field is a long exposure on a small field of view to observe the faintest objects possible. The Ultra Deep Field (UDF) represents the deepest visible light observation of the universe (deeper views are extensions / subsets of this 2004 image). Containing about 10,000 sources, the UDF provides a statistical sample of galaxies across the universe. In this sequence, the three-dimensional model of the UDF data set uses NASA and other images and source catalogs. More than 5000 galaxies with cross-matched image cutout and distance measure are placed in their correct relative position throughout the long thin pyramid of