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Ancient Galaxy Protocluster Discovered 12.7 Billion Light-Years Away

2/16/2026

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Summary

Story summary

JADES-ID1 is the most distant galaxy protocluster, located about 12.7 billion light-years from Earth.
The cluster weighs about 20 trillion suns and spans 1.1 million light-years.
It existed when the universe was about one billion years old, challenging models that such protoclusters form 2–3 billion years after the Big Bang.
Lead author Akos Bogdan said the findings were published January 28, 2026, in Nature.

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Story summary

JADES-ID1 is the most distant galaxy protocluster, located about 12.7 billion light-years from Earth.
The cluster weighs about 20 trillion suns and spans 1.1 million light-years.
It existed when the universe was about one billion years old, challenging models that such protoclusters form 2–3 billion years after the Big Bang.
Lead author Akos Bogdan said the findings were published January 28, 2026, in Nature.