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Astronomers Discover New Galaxy Born 12 Billion Light Years Ago

The star formation triggered by the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in its current approximation to the Milky Way is seen in an illustration. Reuters
The star formation triggered by the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in its current approximation to the Milky Way is seen in an illustration. Reuters
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Astronomers Discover New Galaxy Born 12 Billion Light Years Ago

The star formation triggered by the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in its current approximation to the Milky Way is seen in an illustration. Reuters
The star formation triggered by the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in its current approximation to the Milky Way is seen in an illustration. Reuters

Astronomers have discovered a very young galaxy that looks surprisingly like our Milky Way, appearing as a ring of light at a distance of 12 billion light years in the dark universe. The galaxy, named SPT0418-47, is so far away its light has taken more than 12 billion years to reach us.

Astronomers see it as it was when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old, 10 percent of its current age, according to data by European Southern Observatory (ESO), a partner in this discovery. At the time, these baby galaxies were just beginning to develop, AFP reported.

The galaxy, which was discovered using the ALMA Telescope in northern Chile, looks surprisingly like our Milky Way and has a similar rotating disc and large group of stars packed tightly around the galactic center. This discovery surprised astronomers who never thought such a galaxy could be formed 12 billion light years ago. "This is the first time a bulge has been seen this early in the history of the Universe, making SPT0418-47 the most distant Milky Way look-alike," ESO said.

This unexpected discovery suggests no disturbances or instabilities in the young galaxy which seems very calm. This made astronomers believe that "this Universe may not be as chaotic as once believed and raises many questions on how a young galaxy could have formed so soon after the Big Bang."

Co-author Simona Vegetti, from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, said: "What we found was quite puzzling; despite forming stars at a high rate, and therefore being the site of highly energetic processes, SPT0418-47 is the most well-ordered galaxy disc ever observed in the early Universe."

The findings were published in the journal Nature.

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10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
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10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

Ten black rhinos have been moved from South Africa to Mozambique to secure breeding of the critically endangered animals that became locally extinct 50 years ago, conservationists said Thursday.

The five male and five female rhinos were transferred to Mozambique's Zinave National Park in a 48-hour road trip last week, said the Peace Parks Foundation, which took part in the translocation.

"It was necessary to introduce these 10 to make the population viable," communication coordinator Lesa van Rooyen told AFP.

The new arrivals will "secure the first founder population of black rhinos since becoming locally extinct five decades ago,” South Africa's environment ministry, which was also involved, said in a statement.

Twelve black rhinos had previously been sent from South Africa to Zinave in central Mozambique but the population was still not viable for breeding, Van Rooyen said.

Twenty-five white rhinos, which are classified as less threatened, were also translocated in various operations.

The global black rhino population dropped by 96 percent between 1970 and 1993, reaching a low of only 2,300 surviving in the wild, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

Decades of conservation efforts allowed the species to slowly recover and the population is estimated at 6,421 today.

Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers fell dramatically due to hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching, with their horns highly sought after on black markets particularly in Asia.

Mozambique's population of the large animals was depleted during the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and pushed many people to desperate measures to "survive in very difficult circumstances", van Rooyen said.

Years of rewilding efforts have established Zinave as Mozambique’s only national park home to the "Big Five" game animals -- elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo.