Astronomers in Europe and the United States said on Wednesday they had spotted the farthest and oldest galaxy ever found, a star cluster 13.2 billion light years away. Light reaching Earth today from galaxy MACS 1149-JD is truly ancient, they reported in the British journal Nature. The rays were sent out 490 million years after the Big Bang that created the Universe some 13.7 billion years ago. “We estimate that it (the galaxy) formed less than 200 million years after the Big Bang,” the team said. Until now, researchers have found more than 100 galaxies believed to have formed between 650 and 850 million years after the birth of the cosmos. But only one, reported last year, has been found that can be dated with confidence back to 500 million years.

(Source: futurenow321)