Galaxy Abell 1835 IR1916 is seen as a tiny dot in this photo of distant galaxies. Image courtesy of ESO.

Abell 1835 IR1916 (also known as Abell 1835, Galaxy Abell 1835, or Galaxy Abell 1835 IR1916) is a candidate for being the most distant galaxy ever observed. It was discovered by French and Swiss astronomers of the European Southern Observatory, namely Roser Pelló, Johan Richard, Jean-François Le Borgne, Daniel Schaerer, and Jean-Paul Kneib. The astronomers used a near-infrared instrument on the Very Large Telescope to detect the galaxy; other observatories were then used to make an image of it possible. The Observatory, in conjunction with the Swiss National Science Foundation, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, issued a press release on 1 March 2004 announcing the discovery. NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is about 56,000 light years in diameter and approximately 60 million light years distant. ... The Abell 1835 IR1916 galaxy. ... The Abell 1835 IR1916 galaxy. ... The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an international astronomical organisation, composed and supported by ten countries from the European Union plus Switzerland and was created in 1962. ... NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is about 56,000 light years in diameter and approximately 60 million light years distant. ... The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an international astronomical organisation, composed and supported by ten countries from the European Union plus Switzerland and was created in 1962. ... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of microwave radiation. ... u know me e u got ebe e u know me e u got ebe e. ... One of the four telescopes that make up the VLT, named Kueyen. ... Observatory of Strasbourg An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. ... The Swiss National Science Foundation is a science research support organization mandated by the Swiss Federal Government. ... The French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique is a public research organization. ... Astronomy and Astrophysics (often referred to as A&A) is a European Journal, publishing papers on theoretical, observational and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. ... A news release or press release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Their analysis of J-band observations indicated that the galaxy is 13.2 billion light years (4.04 Gpc) away from the Earth (z=10), in the Virgo constellation. This means that Abell 1835 IR1916 appears to us as it was 13.2 billion years ago, only 500 million years after the Big Bang and very close to the first burst of star formation in the universe. Since Abell 1835 IR1916 is 13.2 billion light years from Earth, it is close to the cosmic light horizon (the edge of the observable universe), which is 13.7 billion light years from earth. Its visibility at such a great distance was credited to gravitational lensing by the galaxy cluster Abell 1835 between it and us. A light year, abbreviated ly, is the distance light travels in one year: roughly 9. ... The parsec (symbol pc) is a unit of length used in astronomy. ... This article is about the constellation and astrological sign Virgo. ... According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe originated in an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ... In astronomy, the cosmic light horizon is a horizon which marks the edge of the visible universe. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Abell 1835 is a galaxy cluster in the Abell catalogue. ...

However, further analysis by Weatherley et al. (2004) of the data that lead to the first announcement has cast doubt on the claim that it is a distant object, and follow-up observations in the H-band using the Gemini North Telescope (Bremer et al. 2004) and observations from the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope (Smith et al. 2006) were not able to detect it at all .

References

• "Astronomy & Astrophysics" (A&A, volume 416, page L35; "ISAAC/VLT observations of a lensed galaxy at z=10.0" by Roser Pelló, Daniel Schaerer, Johan Richard, Jean-François Le Borgne, and Jean-Paul Kneib)

• "Astronomy & Astrophysics" (A&A, volume 428 page L29-L32; Reanalysis of the spectrum of the z = 10 galaxy by Weatherley, S. J.; Warren, S. J.; Babbedge, T. S. R.

• "Astroph" (astroph,0407194;

Response to "Reanalysis of the spectrum of the z=10 galaxy by Roser Pelló; Johan Richard; Daniel Schaerer; Jean-François Le Borgne

• "The Astrophysical Journal" (ApJ, Volume 615, Issue 1, pp. L1-L4; Gemini H-Band Imaging of the Field of a z = 10 Candidate by Bremer, M. N.; Jensen, Joseph B.; Lehnert, M. D.; Schreiber, N. M. Förster; Douglas, Laura)

• Astrophys. J. 636, 575–581 (2006), Smith et al.