Spiral Galaxy A2744-GDSp-z4 Discovered Dating Back to 1.5 Billion Years After Big Bang

A spiral galaxy, designated A2744-GDSp-z4, has been discovered dating back to approximately 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy, observed by a team led by Rashi Jain from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics in India, exhibits prominent and defined spiral arms extending from its core. Its structure challenges existing astrophysical models of the early universe. The galaxy features a bright central bulge and a large extended disk, spanning roughly 32,000 light-years in diameter. A2744-GDSp-z4 has a stellar mass of about 14 billion solar masses and a star formation rate of 57.6 solar masses per year. Stellar formation in the region is estimated to have begun approximately 839 million years after the Big Bang, accumulating over 10 billion solar masses within a few hundred million years.