{"id":795516,"date":"2025-04-22T15:21:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795516"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:21:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:21:03","slug":"check-out-the-most-distant-known-spiral-galaxy-aka-torch-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795516","title":{"rendered":"Check out the most distant known spiral galaxy, aka \u2018Torch Dragon\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wow! Check Out the Most Distant Known Spiral Galaxy\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o3iBTvVjZ4E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>Astronomers just announced the most distant \u2013 and therefore youngest \u2013 spiral galaxy yet seen in the early universe. They see it as it existed just 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Yet it has a well-defined spiral structure, a fact that goes against classical thinking about how spiral galaxies form and evolve. EarthSky\u2019s Deborah Byrd speaks with Dr. Christina Williams at University of Arizona, one of the astronomers involved in the study. Watch in the player above, or on YouTube.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Science matters. Wonder matters. You matter.<\/strong><br \/>Join EarthSky\u2019s 2025 Donation Campaign today.<\/p>\n<h3>What did our Milky Way look like in the early universe?<\/h3>\n<p>An international team of astronomers says it has spotted the most distant spiral galaxy yet known. They used the Webb space telescope to capture this galaxy as it existed just 1 billion years after the Big Bang. They said on April 16, 2025, that it might be a peek at what our home galaxy, the spiral-shaped Milky Way, looked like in the early universe.  <\/p>\n<p>Originally, astronomers thought spiral galaxies grew over billions of years from chaotic, irregular masses. But with more and more evidence mounting, it appears that galaxies like our Milky Way obtained their spiral structure much earlier than once thought.<\/p>\n<p>The astronomers are calling this galaxy Zh\u00fal\u00f3ng, a name meaning Torch Dragon in Chinese mythology. As lead author Mengyuan Xiao of the University of Geneva explained: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In the myth, Zh\u00fal\u00f3ng is a powerful red solar dragon that creates day and night by opening and closing its eyes, symbolizing light and cosmic time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The scientists published their peer-reviewed research in the journal <em>Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics<\/em> on April 16, 2025.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_508035\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-508035\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-508035\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">If we could see our home galaxy the Milky Way as it was in the early universe, what would it have looked like? A new study said it would look similar to this galaxy, which astronomers have named Zh\u00fal\u00f3ng, or Torch Dragon. Image via NOIRLab\/ NSF\/ AURA\/ NASA\/ CSA\/ ESA\/ M. Xiao (University of Geneva)\/ G. Brammer (Niels Bohr Institute)\/ D. de Martin &amp; M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_508034\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-508034\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/mengyuan-xiao-University-of-Geneva-e1744842176295.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman with long, black hair wearing sunglasses and an orange hard hat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"448\" class=\"size-full wp-image-508034\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-508034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mengyuan Xiao of the University of Geneva is the lead author of the new study. Image via University of Geneva.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Similarities to the Milky Way<\/h3>\n<p>The universe is nearly 14 billion years old. And we see Torch Dragon as it was 1 billion years after the Big Bang, or close to 13 billion years ago. Its light has traveled so far for so long across the universe to reach us that it has redshifted \u2013 or moved toward the red end of the spectrum \u2013 to a high degree. In fact, it has a redshift of 5.2, which makes it the highest redshift for any candidate spiral galaxy yet.<\/p>\n<p>Despite what must be the galaxy\u2019s young age, the researchers said it already shows: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>a surprisingly mature structure: a central old bulge, a large star-forming disk, and spiral arms \u2026 features typically seen in nearby galaxies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Xiao said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>What makes Zh\u00fal\u00f3ng [Torch Dragon] stand out is just how much it resembles the Milky Way in shape, size and stellar mass.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Milky Way spans about 100,000 light-years across, comparable to Torch Dragon\u2019s 60,000 light-years. And the newly discovered galaxy has more than 100 billion solar masses in stars. The scientists called it one of the most compelling analogues for our galaxy ever found so early in the universe.<\/p>\n<p>Co-author Christina Williams of NSF NOIRLab said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It is really exciting that this galaxy resembles a grand-design spiral galaxy like our Milky Way. It is generally thought that it takes billions of years for this structure to form in galaxies, but Zh\u00fal\u00f3ng shows that this could also happen in only one billion years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>What\u2019s next?<\/h3>\n<p>The researchers found this galaxy in a wide-area survey, which Williams said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u2026 is essential for discovering massive galaxies, as they are incredibly rare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The scientists hope that future observations with Webb and the and Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will help them learn more about the galaxy. They\u2019d like to confirm their observations and gain more information so they can understand how it formed. And, of course, they\u2019d also like to find more giant spiral galaxies in the early universe. <\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: Astronomers have discovered the oldest known spiral galaxy. It\u2019s thought be similar to what our own Milky Way galaxy looked like, 1 billion years after the Big Bang.<\/p>\n<p>Source: PANORAMIC: Discovery of an ultra-massive grand-design spiral galaxy at z ~ 5.2<\/p>\n<p>Via Universit\u00e9 de Gen\u00e8ve<\/p>\n<p>Via NOIRLab<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Kelly Kizer Whitt &#8211; EarthSky\u2019s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube &#8211; writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She&#8217;s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children&#8217;s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/oldest-known-spiral-galaxy-zhulong-torch-dragon\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astronomers just announced the most distant \u2013 and therefore youngest \u2013 spiral galaxy yet seen in the early universe. They see it as it existed just 1 billion years after&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":795420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=795516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/795420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=795516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=795516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=795516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}