But by developing better model spectra and comparing the results with the Keck spectra of
Hubble Deep Field galaxies, astronomers significantly increased the precision.
"Larger surveys of similar quality are needed to decide if the differences between
Hubble Deep Field North and South are normal variations or whether one of the fields is atypical of the rest of the universe," Labbe says.
"The
Hubble Deep Field emerged out of that in a period of weeks."
He plans to collaborate with those scientists, providing them with near-infrared observations of
Hubble Deep Field North that he took last year.
Richer of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and their colleagues used Hubble to reexamine the
Hubble Deep Field North 2 years after the telescope first imaged this region of sky (SN: 1/20/96, p.
Meanwhile, Michael Merrifield (University of Nottingham, England) says that analysis of
Hubble Deep Field galaxies indicates that barred spirals were virtually absent until the universe was about half its present age.
Spectra taken last year by the Hubble instrument confirmed that the galaxy, located in a region adjacent to the
Hubble Deep Field North, has a redshift of 6.68.
THERE ARE LONG, NARROW COSMIC PROBES SUCH AS THE
HUBBLE DEEP FIELD, AND THERE ARE WIDE-AREA SURVEYS THAT COVER BROAD SWATHS OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE TO SHALLOW DEPTHS.
It counted faint, faraway galaxies in the tiny patch of sky called the
Hubble Deep Field, which was scrutinized by the Hubble Space Telescope.
In another blow to the halo-white-dwarf theory, astronomers who claimed earlier to identify some of these stars in the
Hubble Deep Field North (S&T: January 2000, page 22) have withdrawn their claim.
At that time the orbiting reflector was taking a second look at the
Hubble Deep Field North, a tiny patch of sky in Ursa Major that it first sounded in 1995.
For 10 days in late 1995, the telescope's visible-light camera stared at the region, dubbed the
Hubble Deep Field, and revealed some 1,500 galaxies (SN: 1/20/96, p.