New find challenges space theory

An enormous string of galaxies 300 million light-years long has been discovered in the remote Universe, challenging existing theories about how the Universe evolved.

The remote area was formed very early, at a time when the Universe was a fifth of its present age and the presence of the galaxy string defies existing models, which cannot explain how a string this big could have formed so long ago.

This is the first time astronomers have been able to map an area in the early Universe big enough to reveal such a galaxy structure.

ANU astronomer Dr Paul Francis, who coordinated the international research team, said the galaxy string lay 10,800 million light-years away. Light travels almost 9.5 trillion kilometres in one light-year, so our observation of the string is as it appeared 10.8 billion years ago. The Universe was formed during the Big Bang approximately 13.7 billion years ago.

“We have detected 37 galaxies and one quasar in the string, but it probably contains many thousands of galaxies,” Dr Francis said.

“The really exciting aspect of this finding is that it sheds new light on the formation of the universe. We are looking back four-fifths of the way to the beginning of the Universe and the existence of this galaxy string will send astrophysicists around the world back to the drawing board, to re-examine theories of the formation of the Universe.”

The string was discovered by Dr Francis, Dr Povilas Palunas of the University of Texas, Dr Harry Teplitz of the California Institute of Technology, Dr Gerard Williger of Johns Hopkins University and Dr Bruce E. Woodgate of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, using telescopes in Chile and at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales.