Milky Way's twin? Astronomers spot mysterious galaxy that looks eerily similar to our own

In an astonishing discovery, the astronomers have found a mysterious galaxy which is eerily similar to our own.

The distant galaxy, which is known as ceers-2112, was identified by an international team of researchers recently by analysing the images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Near Infrared Camera.

Although the images did not reveal anything other than a hazy blob, after astronomers carried out further investigation by using a range of wavelengths, they saw a complex and barred spiral structure which appeared very similar to the Milky Way.

The galaxies are present in all manner of sizes, shapes and luminosities and some of them are blobby and large, some are irregular and small, and some are stretched out and gigantic.

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Galaxies like the Milky Way swirl, as its gas and stars remain concentrated in radiating lines which curve like cosmic ribbons that appear trailing from a spinning gymnast.

Although different factors influence the shape of a galaxy, which can be monolithic collisions or the crowding of neighbours, it has been understood for a long time that complex shapes take time to form.

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Astronomers believe galaxy ceers-2112 has 'matured'

As per the observations, barred spiral galaxies like the Milky Way did not exist before 8 billion years. However, a measure of stretched light from a newly found galaxy suggests that it may have existed two billion years after the Big Bang.

Even though the galaxy is still too faint to observe the details of its spiralling arms, a thickened bar seen by the astronomers in its centre is enough to convince them ceers-2112 is well-developed for its age.

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"Nearly all bars are found in spiral galaxies," stated Alexander de la Vega, who is an astronomer at the University of California, Riverside.

"The bar in ceers-2112 suggests that galaxies matured and became ordered much faster than we previously thought, which means some aspects of our theories of galaxy formation and evolution need revision,” he added while speaking to science alert.

The galaxies are generally major concentrations of gas and dust which come together under gravity. The debris itself provides some of that gravity, and a significant proportion of it is believed to be made of dark matter.

After enough material gets collected in one spot, nuclear fusion takes place which helps in the formation of stars and planets.

(With inputs from agencies)