Peering into the early universe, astronomers uncovered a surprise: a young galaxy that looks a lot like the Milky Way. The newfound galaxy is called SPT0418-47, and given its great distance from Earth, astronomers see the galaxy as it was when the universe was just 1.4 billion years old - roughly 12 billion years before today.
Studying this galaxy could tell us more about our own
© ALMA
The discovery held a big surprise for the researchers: stars were forming quickly, as expected, since there was abundant gas available when the universe was young. But despite the chaos, SPT0418-47 has a well-defined, rotating disc and galactic ‘bulge’ at the centre. That’s a similar structure to the Milky Way’s today.