Astronomers find COSMOS-z3.1-A, most distant known galaxy proto-supercluster

Using data from the ODIN survey with the Dark Energy Camera, astronomers identified COSMOS-z3.1-A, the most distant known galaxy proto-supercluster, seen as it was about 12 billion years ago. It contains 10 dense galaxy groups and is roughly 5,000 times more massive than the Milky Way.

• The ODIN survey spanned 100 nights over three years and found 150 distant protoclusters
• COSMOS-z3.1-A is about 5,000 times more massive than the Milky Way
• Fewer than one such object exists per 10,000 galaxy clusters
• The data supports hierarchical, bottom-up structure formation