--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2243 og:image:height: 1262 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hubble Explores Some of the Oldest Galaxies in the Universe > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Marisa Gertz](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jul 21, 2016 2:00 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/marisa-gertz/) ## Marisa Gertz Jul 21, 2016 2:00 PM UTC 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) 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/?). 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) 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. 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