Ancient spiral galaxy is 11 billion years old
New observation could give insight into how such star systems sprout arms
![galaxy illustration](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/111317_LG_spiral-galaxy_est_main_no-black.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY The oldest known spiral galaxy was spotted thanks to a cluster of galaxies in front of it acting as a gravitational lens. That effect helped astronomers produce two magnified images of the galaxy in different positions (insets within this artist’s illustration).
James Josephides