Most Distant Galaxy Cluster to be Found Yet Discovered Only 4 Billion Years After the Big Bang

The most distant galaxy cluster to be found yet has been identified by astronomers. Scientists have detected a massive, sprawling, churning galaxy cluster that formed just 3.8 billion years after the Big Bang.

The cluster itself is named IDCs J1426.5+3508 (or IDSCS 1426), is the most massive cluster of galaxies yet discovered in the first four billion years after the Big Bang.

IDCS 1426 appears to be undergoing a substantial amount of upheaval. The researchers observed a bright knot of X-rays slightly off-center in the cluster, indicating that the cluster's core may have shifted some hundred  thousand light-years from its center. The scientists believe that the core may have been dislodged from a violent collision with another massive galaxy cluster, causing gas within the cluster to slosh around like wine in a glass.

A collision may actually explain how the cluster formed so quickly in the universe at a time when individual galaxies were only just beginning to take shape.

"In the grand scheme of things, galaxies probably didn't start forming until the universe was relatively cool, and yet this thing has popped up very shortly after that," said Michael McDonald, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our guess is that another similarly massive cluster came in and sort of wrecked the place up a bit. That would explain why this is so massive and growing so quickly. It's the first one to the gate, basically."

The findings reveal a bit more about galaxy clusters, and show how they first formed ini the early universe.

The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

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