Hidden Patterns of Light Revealed by Spitzer
{"Image ImageWidth": "3000", "Image ImageLength": "1200", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "LZW", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Astronomers have uncovered the patterns of light that appear to be from the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe, hidden within a strip of sky observed by NASA\u2019s Spitzer Space Telescope.\n\nThese two panels show the same slice of sky in the constellation Bo\u00f6tes, dubbed the \u201cExtended Groth Strip.\u201d The area covered is about 1 by 0.12 degrees in angular extent.\n\nThe top panel show\u2019s Spitzer\u2019s typical infrared view of this patch, including foreground stars and a confusion of fainter galaxies, at a wavelength of 4.5 microns.\n\nIn the lower panel, all of the resolved stars and galaxies have been masked out of the image (grey patches), and the remaining background glow has been smoothed and enhanced. This processing reveals a structure too faint to be seen in the original image.\n\nThe structure of the lower panel matches just what we would expect for the patterns of clusters for the first galaxies formed in the universe. Even though any particular early galaxy would be too faint to see individually, this technique allows astronomers to better understand what things were like shortly after the Big Bang.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:06:07 10:24:44", "Image Artist": "Spitzer Space Telescope", "Image Copyright": "http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/mediaimages/copyright.shtml", "Image ExifOffset": "1516", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1654", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7455", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "640", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "350"}