Kiso 5639 question

[henrylr]

The galaxy, named Kiso 5639, is located 82 million light-years away from Earth. A photo released by NASA shows just how busy the "tadpole" galaxy is as a firestorm of newborn stars blaze out of one end of the galaxy, lighting up the cosmos. I'm confused about when Kiso 5639 did what the Hubble saw. I would have thought that the image Hubble saw occurred eons ago. Why it is written, that the "Tadpole" galaxy is releasing a firestorm of newborn stars, as if it is happening right now? Was the image 82 million light years old or can Hubble see through time and distance? Am I missing some fundamental concept? Is the Hubble actually seeing something as it happens? My other question, related to Kiso, is why aren't there later images, like after it matured, or what it became.

[michaelmorris]

If Kiso 5639 is 82 million light years away, this means that the Hubble is seeing what happened 82 million years ago.   If I look at the Sun through a solar filter, I am seeing it how it was 8 minutes before  I saw it, because the light took 8 minutes to get from the Sun to my eye (the Sun is approximately 8 light minutes away).

I hope this helps

[symesie04]

Indeed the events happened 82 million years ago. The reason the narrative is addressed in the present is because its narrated from our perspective and of course we are only seeing the results of the activity that occurred millions of years ago now.