Hubble allows glimpse of end of dark ages of universe.

(From Agence France Presse)

The Hubble space telescope has allowed astronomers to see the end of the universe's "Dark Ages," the cosmic era less than a billion years after the Big Bang when the universe consisted of dark matter and hot gas.

Researchers have been able to distinguish light from what they believe are young star-forming galaxies that appear at a transition point for the universe, at a time when it was seven times smaller than it is today, according to work presented Thursday to the American Astronomical Society's annual meeting in Seattle, Washington.

"With the Hubble …