How many orbits did it take to make the observations?

  • It took 400 orbits to make the observations.

How many exposures were needed to make the observations?

  • The Hubble telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys’ wide-field camera snapped 800 exposures, which equals two exposures per orbit. The exposures were taken over four months, from Sept. 24, 2003 to Jan. 16, 2004.

How much viewing time was needed to make all the exposures?

  • The 800 exposures amounted to about 1 million seconds or 11.3 days of viewing time. The average exposure time was 21 minutes.

How many galaxies are in the image?

  • The image yields a rich harvest of about 10,000 galaxies.

If astronomers made the Hubble Ultra Deep Field observation over the entire sky, how long would it take?

  • The whole sky contains 12.7 million times more area than the Ultra Deep Field. To observe the entire sky would take almost 1 million years of uninterrupted observing.

VIA HUBBLE SITE

Okay, if I ever again hear someone say we are the only living beings in this universe, I will simply walk away from you.