SCULPTING a galaxy requires peace, and so the turbulent early universe was instead filled with incoherent starry blobs. Yet a shapely spiral galaxy has been glimpsed that dates back to 11 billion years ago, just a few billion years after the big bang.
, Canada, and colleagues saw BX422 with the Hubble telescope’s infrared sensors. These can reveal distant, ancient galaxies whose light has been stretched by the universe’s expansion to more than triple its initial wavelength.
BX422 seems to be merging with a smaller galaxy. A simulation by Law’s team shows that this could create short-lived spirals under certain conditions (Nature, ).
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