The pair of galaxies were the first things other than quasars to have the title of most distant object found, since the 1960s. The pair of galaxies remained the most distant objects known until the discovery of RD1 at z=5.34, the first object to exceed redshift 5.
The two galaxies were among the earliest non-quasar objects to be recognized as the most distant discovery since the 1960s. They remained the most distant known entities until the identification of RD1 at z=5.34, which was the first object with a redshift greater than 5.