Lonely Galaxy Found 9.2 Billion Light-Years Away by Astronomers

Astronomers have discovered a lonely galaxy called 3C 297, located 9.2 billion light-years from Earth, which has unique characteristics typically found in galaxy clusters. The galaxy may be a “fossil group,” absorbing former companion galaxies, making it the most distant fossil group ever discovered. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory were used for this discovery, which may push the limits for how quickly galaxies are expected to grow in the early Universe.