A star formed every 40 minutes !

Radio astronomers looked very deep into the universe to the early eras. Trying to see how early galaxies form, they were shocked to find a structure had formed just 1.4 billion years after the cosmos' inception. Not only surprised at a mature structure existing so soon in evolution, but also found vigor within, forming stars every 40 minutes.

Massive protoclusters so early in history are not expected. It was assumed in early evolution that assembling the material to full maturity would take billions of years.

"Instead, there are many elliptical galaxies with older stellar populations and very little cold gas to form new stars."

'We find that the structures with the very highest densities must have decoupled first from the universe's expansion at only 10% of the current cosmic age, and then rapidly assembled entire protoclusters.' "The compression of gas sparks a cosmic firework."

"a massive elliptical galaxy might swiftly emerge in just a few hundred million years. It can form through the collapse and coalescence of a major primordial structure, in the time it takes the sun to orbit around the Milky Way's center once."

The team focused on a protocluster labelled, SPT2349-56 located in the southern constellation Phoenix. It holds the record for the most vigorous stellar factory. In the center they found four tightly-interacting galaxies making one star every 40 minutes.

Currently, the Milky Way takes a year to form 3 or 4 stars.

Examination also found "clumps of tidal debris link to a chain of 20 additional galaxies." The team notes that "most of the 40 gas-rich galaxies" will be destroyed. There may be a giant elliptical galaxy formed in 300 million years.

The international team is led by Nikolaus Sulzenauer and Axel Weiss of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and used data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). They published in the "Astrophysical Journal".

A write up can be found at Phys.Org, Feb. 10, 2026. or at Astro Physical Journal

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357 ae2ff0 or  IOP 847/1538-4357/ae2ff0.

Reviews

[Sakura]

What a beautiful story! Your writing style is truly captivating, and I think it would translate wonderfully into a comic. I have a few ideas that could make it even more engaging, and I’d love to discuss them with you either on Discord or via email at [e-mail] @sakura_vibes01.

I’m a paid artist. Please note that I only communicate with people who are 18 years or older.