{"id":1303259,"date":"2025-12-05T12:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T06:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1303259"},"modified":"2025-12-05T12:05:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T06:35:48","slug":"indian-scientists-discover-milky-way-type-12-billion-years-old-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/indian-scientists-discover-milky-way-type-12-billion-years-old-galaxy\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Scientists Discover Milky Way Type, 12 Billion Years Old Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a breakthrough that could rewrite astronomy textbooks, Indian researchers have discovered a massive, perfectly structured spiral galaxy from when the Universe was just <strong>1.5 billion years old<\/strong>. Named <strong>Alaknanda<\/strong>, the galaxy challenges long-held theories about how early galaxies formed and evolved after the Big Bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-12.04.11-PM-1024x573.png\" alt=\"Indian Scientists Discover Milky Way Type 12 Billion Years Old Galaxy\" class=\"wp-image-1303264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-12.04.11-PM-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-12.04.11-PM-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-12.04.11-PM-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-05-at-12.04.11-PM.png 1284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The discovery was made using the <strong>James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)<\/strong>, the world\u2019s most powerful space observatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Galaxy From the Universe\u2019s Childhood<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Universe is about <strong>13.8 billion years old<\/strong>, which means astronomers are seeing Alaknanda as it existed <strong>12 billion years ago<\/strong>, just 10% into cosmic history. At that time, galaxies were expected to be small, chaotic, and irregular \u2014 nothing like today\u2019s fully developed spirals such as the Milky Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, PhD researcher <strong>Rashi Jain<\/strong> and her supervisor <strong>Prof. Yogesh Wadadekar<\/strong> spotted a massive, beautifully organised structure with symmetrical arms, a bright central bulge, and star clusters lined up like \u201cbeads on a string.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Wadadekar admitted his initial reaction was disbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why This Discovery Is So Shocking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes Alaknanda extraordinary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is <strong>one-third the size of the Milky Way<\/strong>, spanning about <strong>30,000 light-years<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It contains <strong>10 billion stars<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It formed spiral arms and a stable disc within <strong>a few hundred million years<\/strong> \u2014 an incredibly rapid pace by cosmic standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is producing new stars <strong>20\u201330 times faster<\/strong> than our Milky Way does today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This level of structure and scale at such an early age contradicts the prevailing theory that the early Universe was too turbulent for such ordered galaxies to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>James Webb\u2019s View of the Early Universe Is Changing Everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since JWST began operations, astronomers have discovered more ancient galaxies \u2014 but most looked like faint smudges. Only rarely have well-formed spirals appeared. Alaknanda is one of the clearest and most detailed examples yet, pointing to a more mature Universe in its early stages than previously believed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis discovery is a rare exception,\u201d says Jain. \u201cAnd such exceptions force us to rethink what we know about galaxy formation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Is the Galaxy Still There Today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because Alaknanda is 12 billion light-years away, we see it as it once was \u2014 not as it is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked what the galaxy looks like today, Prof. Wadadekar gives a playful but accurate answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cWait another 12 billion years to find out.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now, the team plans follow-up studies using JWST and ALMA in Chile to decode how such a young galaxy built complex spiral arms so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/crmdk7wkmz4o.amp\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a breakthrough that could rewrite astronomy textbooks, Indian researchers have discovered a massive, perfectly structured spiral galaxy from when the Universe was just 1.5 billion years old. Named Alaknanda, the galaxy challenges long-held theories about how early galaxies formed and evolved after the Big Bang. The discovery was made using the James Webb Space [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1303264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[351],"tags":[9048,9049],"class_list":["post-1303259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-alaknanda","tag-milky-way"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Indian Scientists Discover Milky Way Type, 12 Billion Years Old Galaxy - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/indian-scientists-discover-milky-way-type-12-billion-years-old-galaxy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indian Scientists Discover Milky Way Type, 12 Billion Years Old Galaxy - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a breakthrough that could rewrite astronomy textbooks, Indian researchers have discovered a massive, perfectly structured spiral galaxy from when the Universe was just 1.5 billion years old. 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