Putting the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Into Perspective

We pointed the most powerful telescope ever built at absolutely nothing for no other reason than that we were curious, and, from what looked like empty space the size of a grain of sand, the light particles from thousands of galaxies, each containing hundreds of billions of stars, struck its mirrors after journeying across the cosmos for billions of years. In 2014 we’ll do it once more with the significantly more powerful James Webb Space Telescope, gazing farther and more clearly than anyone ever thought possible; to memories of celestial objects — as old as the universe itself — that blasted away from us faster than the speed of light many million years ago, vanishing forever. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will.