Astronomers Find Hyperactive Galaxies in the Early Universe

STScI-PRC2009-24a

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ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

This illustration compares the Milky Way with a compact galaxy in the early universe.

Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy. They are whirling at a speed of one million miles per hour—about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way. The galaxies are a fraction the size of our Milky Way, and so may have evolved over billions of years into the full-grown galaxies seen around us today.

Object Names: 1255-0 (1256-151, 1256-0)

Image Type: Illustration

Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)