UBC researchers delve into deep space to answer mysteries of galaxy formation

By chasing shadows in the farthest reaches of space, a team led by astronomers at the University of British Columbia has discovered that the early universe can be a hot mess.

More specifically, the researchers measured the energy of hot gas within a remote group of galaxies – the most distant such measurement ever made. The result reinforces the importance of giant black holes in galaxy formation and shows that in at least some cases the process was energized to a degree that computer simulations do not predict.