Scientists have spotted a small galaxy, known as MACS0647, 13.3 billion light years away, making it the farthest-seen galaxy to date.
On Monday, NASA scientists announced they had discovered MACS0647-JD using the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and a technique known as "gravitational lensing," US News and World reported.
According to the report, gravitational lensing uses distant galaxies to zoom into galaxies that are found beyond them. This magnifies and brightens the distant celestial objects, which makes it possible for telescopes to observe them.
US News and World reported that the discovery allowed scientists to "look into the past." Astronomers believe that light from MACS0647-JD is from 420 million years after the big bang, which is thought to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago.
The newly discovered galaxy is very small, less than 600 light years across, leading scientists to believe that it is still in the first stages of galaxy formation, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"The estimated mass of this baby galaxy is roughly equal to 100 million or a billion suns, or 0.1 to 1.0 percent of our Milky Way's stars," a statement by NASA said.
The previous record for the oldest and furthest galaxy discovered by the joint American-European CLASH project was recorded in September at 13.2 billion light years away, the Morning Herald reported.
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