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The furthest galaxy cluster from Earth has been spotted some 10.2 billion light years away. The group of galaxies, known as JKCS041 has beaten the previous record holder by around a billion light years.
It appears as it was when the Universe was only a quarter of its age and nearly six billion years before the Earth was formed.
The bunch, containing hundreds of galaxies, was analysed by combining data from Nasa's Chandra X-Ray Observatory with data from optical and infrared telescopes.
Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe and scientists hope the findings will help them learn more about how the Universe evolved.
JKCS041 was first detected in 2006 with infrared observations. But scientists were not sure if it was a true galaxy cluster, rather than one in the act of forming. Nor could a normal telescope tell them how far away it was.
Dr Ben Maughan, from the University of Bristol, carried out a long-term analysis of the Chandra X-ray data which has finally proved JKCS041 to be a fully-formed cluster.
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