Galaxy cluster’s maturity surprises scientists

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But it doesn't end there. Within the patch of the universe covered by the Cluster Survey, Nichol says they can see hints of more tan 1,600 additional galaxy clusters waiting to be confirmed and studied in detail.

"The total number of clusters depends on the amount of dark matter there is," Nichol said. "So this will give us a wonderful measure of how much dark matter there is in the universe."

Dark matter is mysterious stuff that astronomers say must exist, based on the fact that there is not enough regular matter in galaxies to keep them from flying apart.

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More discoveries
Extremely distant galaxy clusters like these, Stanford said, give astronomers a great chance "to study galaxy formation by looking at what they were like in the earlier stages of their lifespan."

Stanford is also a team member for a separate galaxy-cluster study that presented its results at the same meeting. Co-led by Mark Brodwin of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, this team used the Spitzer Space Telescope to discover a total of almost 300 galaxy clusters and groups (galaxy "groups" contain far fewer members than the average galaxy cluster).

Nearly 100 of their finds are at immense distances of more than 8 billion light years.

"The Spitzer Space Telescope sees the thermal radiation of these galaxy clusters at infrared wavelengths," Brodwin explained. "Now, we'll be able to use this large sample of clusters as a laboratory to study the evolution of galaxies."

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