JWST spots an infant galaxy like our own in the early universe

What they found: The galaxy, called The Sparkler, appears to be surrounded by satellite galaxies and globular clusters, according to the study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

• As the galaxy grows, it swallows those objects surrounding it, giving it the potential to grow into a galaxy like our own, the study suggests. The Milky Way is home to about 200 globular clusters.
• "We appear to be witnessing, first hand, the assembly of this galaxy as it builds up its mass — in the form of a dwarf galaxy and several globular clusters," Duncan Forbes, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement.
• "We are excited by this unique opportunity to study both the formation of globular clusters, and an infant Milky Way, at a time when the Universe was only 1/3 of its present age."

How it works: The Sparkler was seen by JWST as it looked through space and back 9 billion years, thanks to a lucky alignment of a dense cluster of galaxies that bent and magnified the light emitted by the more distant galaxy, allowing it to be seen.