It’s not every day scientists get to watch a galaxy being born. But thanks in part to the bright light of a quasar, astronomers say they’ve identified a swirling disk of gas that’s a galaxy in the making — as well as the strand of the universe’s cosmic web that’s been feeding it.
The protogalactic disk, described this week in the journal Nature, gives scientists an unprecedented glimpse into the development of early galaxies, as well as a window onto the structure of the cosmos.
“What it tells us about galaxy formation and the cosmic web is that they’re tied together,” said Caltech astrophysicist Christopher Martin, the study’s lead author.