Galaxy structure seven billion light-years away (artist’s impression)

Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world — ESO’s Very Large Telescope and NAOJ’s Subaru Telescope — is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed.

This 3D illustration shows the position of the galaxies and reveals the extent of this gigantic structure. The galaxies located in the newly discovered structure are shown in red. Galaxies that are either in front or behind the structure are shown in blue.