The blurry, low resolution image above is the earliest known galaxy to have formed into a spiral shape. You can just about make out the spiral arms above and below the center of the galaxy. The image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope at a distance of almost 11 billion lights years. This means this galaxy formed just 3 billion years after the big bang.

All other galaxies that have been observed from such a distance have either no discernable shape or look like puffy discs. This has led astronomers to believe that the universe was in such a chaotic state in the first few billion years after the big bang that it was impossible for spiral galaxies to form.

The team which discovered the galaxy were shocked to see such an early example of a grand design spiral. The team was headed by David Law at the University of Toronto, he said he was “astonished” at the find.

Later observations gave a clue as to how the galaxy formed, BX442 is being orbited by a smaller dwarf galaxy. Law has suggested that the gravitational interactions between the two galaxies has helped produce the spiral arms on the ancient galaxy.

Unfortunately for BX442 it seems its beautiful spiral arms may just be temporary, as once the two galaxies merge it too will become a large blob or a chaotic mess like its other early companions.

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