The embryonic galaxy was in existence just 500 million years after the Big Bang and is at the very limit of what the telescope can observe.
The image captured by NASA was magnified by a natural phenomenon which has become known as “gravitational lensing”, giving the federal agency never before seen details of this ancient star system.
Gravitational lensing happens when a galaxy or cluster of galaxies bend the light emitted from a more distant galaxy, forming a highly magnified image.
However, it can often be very distorted as a result of massive objects bending the dimensions of spacetime around them, making light travel in a different path.
This theory was first proposed by Einstein in his theory of General Relativity.
In this case, a cluster of galaxies called SPT-CL J0615-5746 amplifies the image out, allowing the Hubble telescope to see it in new detail.
NASA says that gravitational lensing occurs when an object with a strong gravitational field is between the object and the observer.
This huge gravitational field acts as a magnifying glass.
The study’s lead author Brett Salmon said: “The lens is not unlike the bottom of a wine glass, distorting that background image.”
It is believed that the universe is around 14billion years old and the galaxy captured through the telescope is thought to be a least 13billion years old.
If this is true, then the embryonic galaxy, called PT0615-JD, was one of the first formed following the big bang.
Other galaxies that have been spotted from the beginning of the universe are so distant that they only show up as tiny red dots.
Dr Salmon said: “Pretty much every galaxy at that distance is an unresolved dot… it’s kind of a matter of luck to get a galaxy that’s lensed in just the right way to stretch it out and get that much detail – it’s a pretty nice find.”
The images from the early part of the universe is a small galaxy and no weighs no more than 3billion solar masses.
We are able to see the galaxy as it appeared 13 billion years ago because the time taken for light to traverse that vast expanse in-between is so great.
It is less than 2,500 light-years across, which equates to around 100,000 light years in diameter.
The new findings were presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington.
The Hubble telescope was launched way back on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The piece of kit is named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble who was born in Missouri in 1889.
Mr Hubble is arguably the most astronomer after he discovered that the universe is expanding and the rate at which it does so – now coined the Hubble constant.
Hubble has made more than 1.3million observations since its mission began in 1990 and helped publish more than 15,000 scientific papers.
It orbits Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles in altitude.