An artist’s rendering shows an early galaxy surrounded by gas and forming new stars at a tremendous rate. (Credit: James Josephides/Christina Williams/Ivo Labbe)

Our universe’s history began about 13.8 billion years ago with the Big Bang. When astronomers probe deep into space, they see parts of the universe as they were early in this history. That’s because it takes light a long time to travel vast distances. To find out how galaxies formed and evolved over time, astronomers look for the ol