NASA discovers one of the farthest galaxies ever

A tiny galaxy far, far, far, far away might help unlock the universe's early history.

NASA announced on Thursday that it had spotted the faint galaxy about 13 billion light-years away as part of its three-year program to investigate the universe's formative years. Five hundred times smaller than the Milky Way and still evolving, it's "one of the farthest galaxies ever seen," NASA says.

The study's leader, Adi Zitrin of the California Institute of Technology, explains why it's important:

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

NASA was able to make the discovery by turning massive galaxy clusters into a "giant cosmic magnifying glass" for the Hubble telescope. These clusters are so large that their gravity forces light to deflect off them, creating lenses for Hubble to peer through. You can read more about this remarkable process over at NASA. --Nico Lauricella