--- title: Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe description: Astronomers are studying galaxies that formed close to the big bang, through an effect called gravitational lensing. canonical: https://time.com/4415046/hubble-galaxies-abell/ author: Marisa Gertz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-21T14:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:24:02.474Z article:section: Science og:title: Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe og:description: Astronomers study galaxies that formed close to the big bang og:url: https://time.com/4415046/hubble-galaxies-abell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ade953edc62abc1/69889cb8f887dc5976e96b0d/hubble-gravitational-lensing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Abell S1063, the final frontier og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe twitter:description: Astronomers study galaxies that formed close to the big bang twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ade953edc62abc1/69889cb8f887dc5976e96b0d/hubble-gravitational-lensing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe by [Marisa Gertz](/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jul 21, 2016 2:00 PM CUT  Abell S1063, a galaxy cluster, was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields program. The huge mass of the cluster acts as a cosmic magnifying glass and enlarges even more distant galaxies, so they become bright enough for Hubble to see. Abell S1063, a galaxy cluster, was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Frontier Fields program. The huge mass of the cluster acts as a cosmic magnifying glass and enlarges even more distant galaxies, so they become bright enough for Hubble to see.NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz (STScI) by [Marisa Gertz](/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jul 21, 2016 2:00 PM CUT In a sense, all astronomical images taken from Earth are a look into the past, since it takes time for light from far away galaxies to travel through space and reach us. This image, released by [Hubble](http://time.com/3772495/see-hubble-best-photos-25th-anniversary "undefined") today, shows the distant galaxy cluster Abell S1063 as it was four billion years ago. That might seem like a long time, but what astronomers are really excited about is the opportunity to explore a time even earlier than this, right after the [Big Bang](http://time.com/27891/big-bang-theory-inflationary-universe/? "undefined"). This cluster allows them to peer into space history through an effect called gravitational lensing. The effect occurs when “the huge mass of the cluster distorts and magnifies the light from galaxies that lie behind it,” explains a [Hubble](https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1615/?lang "undefined") press release, making galaxies visible that would otherwise be too faint to observe. Sixteen galaxies have been found so far using this method, including one from just a billion years after the Big Bang. Through the Frontier Fields program, two more huge clusters are scheduled to be observed over the next few years. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4415046/hubble-galaxies-abell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4415046/hubble-galaxies-abell/"},"headline":"Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe","datePublished":"2016-07-21T14:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:24:02.474Z","description":"A rare effect allows astronomers to peer far back in time","url":"https://time.com/4415046/hubble-galaxies-abell/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Hubble Space Telescope","esa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ade953edc62abc1/69889cb8f887dc5976e96b0d/hubble-gravitational-lensing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Marisa Gertz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ade953edc62abc1/69889cb8f887dc5976e96b0d/hubble-gravitational-lensing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Abell S1063, the final frontier","caption":"Abell S1063, the final frontier","creditText":"NASA, ESA, and J. 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