Astronomers Spot Ancient Spiral Galaxy From an Era When Spirals Should Not Exist
Earliest Spiral Galaxy An artist's rendering shows galaxy BX442 and its companion dwarf galaxy, upper left. Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics/Joe Bergeron Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have stumbled on a rare and surprising find: A very distant spiral galaxy, swirling billions of light years away, which formed at a time when such spiral galaxies were thought to be nonexistent. Researchers say it's an astounding discovery - partly because it raises some questions about prevailing theories of galaxy formation. Understanding galaxy evolution is a central part of determining the early history and future fate of the universe. Astronomers want to understand the physics that trigger vast amounts of stars to clump into galaxies, and that cause those galaxies to organize into clusters. The distant relics of early galaxies has helped solidify some of these theories, but this galaxy, known as BX442, is strange. Most ancient galaxies - meaning very far away...