Scientists detect the magnetic field of a galaxy in the early universe

What they found: Researchers using the ALMA telescope in Chile found the magnetic field surrounding a galaxy, named 9io9, whose light took 11 billion years to reach us on Earth.

• The galaxy's magnetic field stretches over 16,000 light-years, but it's about 1,000 times weaker than the Earth's magnetic field.
• "This discovery gives us new clues as to how galactic-scale magnetic fields are formed," James Geach, a professor at the University of Hertfordshire, and author of a new study in Nature about the discovery, said in a statement.

How it works: The magnetic field can be seen when dust grains in the galaxy align with one another and the light emitted is polarized — moving in a "preferred direction rather than randomly," according to the European Southern Observatory.

What to watch: "Observing a fully developed magnetic field this early in the history of the Universe indicates that magnetic fields spanning entire galaxies can form rapidly while young galaxies are still growing," the ESO statement said.