...and the giant blob of gas, please

[cryowizard]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Astronomers on Wednesday announced the discovery of a massive and mysterious gas blob of the type that can be precursors to galaxies, which they dubbed Himiko.

The data used in identifying the megablob came from a suite of telescopes. Scientists said the object, which they named Himiko for the legendary Japanese queen, existed when our universe was only about 800 million years old.

Our universe, borne of the Big Bang as the theory goes, is an estimated 13.7 billion years old.

Himiko, a ball of gas, stretches for 55,000 light years, a record for that early era. The enormous length is comparable to the radius of our Milky Way's disk.