why is the small, faint, very distant galaxy shown here (arrow) bright at infrared but not detectable at visible-light wavelengths? an infrared image shows a very bright object in the center of a field of dimmer round and oblong objects. an inset shows that next to the very bright object is a particularly small, dim object. the visible light emitted by this galaxy is redshifted into the infrared. long ago galaxies were much cooler than they are now. because it contains only very hot stars. infrared detectors are more efficient at counting photons than visible light detectors. because intergalactic dust absorbs all the visible light.