This artist’s impression of an early, massive galaxy that forms from the merger of smaller-protogalaxies shows how it should be obscured by dust during the most rapid phases of star-formation. For the first time, a team of astronomers may have discovered the missing link between the earliest and the later, more massive galaxies that we see. (JAMES JOSEPHIDES/CHRISTINA WILLIAMS/IVO LABBE)

Can This Newfound Dark, Massive Galaxy Be Astronomy’s ‘Missing Link’ In The Universe?

If this newfound galaxy is just the tip of the iceberg, the entire Universe may fall into place.

One of the greatest challenges for a scientist is that every time you make a new advance, it only raises more questions. When we look out at our Universe today, we see galaxies with all sorts of different properties. We see giant ellipticals that haven’t formed stars in billions of years; we see Milky Way-like spirals that are rich in heavy elements; we see irregular galaxies; we see dwarf galaxies; we see ultra-distant galaxies that appear to be forming stars for just the first or second time.

But when you put this all together, there are some puzzles. Some galaxies have grown to be so large so early that they’ve defied a coherent explanation. With only small, low-mass galaxies found at great distances by Hubble, the active formation of a large galaxy has long been astronomy’s missing link. With a new discovery of a dark, massive galaxy, astronomers may have just cracked the mystery, and solved a longstanding cosmic puzzle.