'This result is quite unexpected and has important implications for how we think galaxies evolve.'
Adding to the mystery, early galaxies are usually considered to be extremely unstable and don't resemble the Milky Way, as it is, in most ways.
“The big surprise was to find that this galaxy is actually quite similar to nearby galaxies, contrary to all expectations from the models and previous, less detailed, observations,” co-author Filippo Fraternali from the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said in the statement.
The team relied on sophisticated computer modeling techniques to recreate the shape of the galaxy. “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,” noted co-author Simona Vegetti from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.