Scientists have discovered a fossil galaxy, which is believed to have been formed shortly after the creation of the Milky Way. The remnants of this galaxy account for roughly a third of the galaxy's spherical "halo" - an area made up of star clusters, gases and dust. The discovery was made using data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (Apogee) project. To identify the fossil galaxy's origin, the team used detailed chemical make-up and motions of tens of thousands of stars to study their chemical composition. The merger of Heracles "must have been a major event in the history of our galaxy", making the discovery an oddity as most similar massive spiral galaxies had calmer early lives.

Astronomers have discovered the most distant spiral galaxy candidate ever observed, named Zhúlóng, a system that existed just one billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy was discovered using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Despite its ancient origins, it displays features typically associated with later cosmic periods, including a central old bulge, a large star-forming disk, and clearly defined spiral arms. It spans more than 60,000 light-years across and contains over 100 billion solar masses in stars, making it one of the most compelling analogues of the Milky Way ever found from such an early era. The discovery could fundamentally reshape our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found a galaxy that is heading towards the Milky Way, expected to merge four billion years into existence. The distant Messier 90 is a spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, a group of over 1,200 galaxies in the constellation Virgo. According to NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), it is one of the few galaxies seen to be travelling towards us, not away from us. The Hubble camera was built from four sensors, which produced the black, staircase-like patches on its images. The image combines infrared, ultraviolet and visible light gathered by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space telescope.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has released images of stars and galaxy clusters, marking the launch of the spacecraft on July 23 1999. The images also show a view of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole at the centre of space. Chandra, which combines data from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, has taken 2,700 trips around the Earth. These images were released as part of NASA's celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing, marking a new era for the human race. The mission was widely celebrated and was attended by US President Donald Trump at a service to celebrate the launch.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a massive galaxy, UGC 285, 232 million light-years from Earth, named "Godzilla" due to its massive size. The galaxy is 2.5 times wider than the Milky Way galaxy and contains nearly 10 times the number of stars. It has been named "Rubin’s galaxy" after astronomer Vera Rubin, who observed the galaxy using the Hubble. The discovery was part of a commemorative image inspired by Rubin's work in 1980 on the size of this galaxy, which indicated evidence of dark matter. It's unclear how the galaxy got so big, but it may have slowly accreted gas for new stars.