Wednesday, 12 August 2020, 8:39 PM
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Astronomers from ASTRON and the University of Groningen (RUG) have discovered a new distant galaxy that resembles our Milky Way. According to the researchers, the find changes the way scientists view the universe.
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The research was published in Nature on Wednesday.
‘It is a very special observation,’ says Professor of Astronomy Marc Verheijen of the RUG RTV Drenthe. ‘It took 12 billion years for the light from the galaxy to reach Earth. It’s so far away that you need the best telescopes and the help of nature. ‘
Young, but grown up
According to Verheijen, the new galaxy already resembles an adult galaxy. And that is very special. ‘This galaxy was formed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang and it has already collected a lot of gas and stars. Normal galaxies take billions of years to do that. It is very special that such a large galaxy was formed so shortly after the Big Bang. ‘
And so this discovery makes scientists think and may yield new insights into the universe’s past. ‘We didn’t expect this either. We really need to rethink how galaxies form. ‘
Breakthrough
The scientists used very powerful telescopes for this discovery. Research leader Francesca Rizzo speaks of a breakthrough. ‘The result shows that the structures we observe in nearby galaxies and in our own Milky Way were already in place 12 billion years ago.’
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