The “bright firefly” was discovered thanks to gravitational lensing when the massive galaxy cluster MACS J1423.8+2404 magnified the light of a distant galaxy. An extended view of the galaxy at redshift 8.296 shows clusters of stars concentrated near its center and along its elongated structure. Two galaxies were also discovered nearby.
The masses of these star clusters range from 100,000 to 1 million Suns; They are similar to the Milky Way’s globular clusters, but have lower metal contents and evidence of active star formation. This activity probably peaked in the last 10-100 million years.
The entire galaxy is small, with a radius of 978 light-years and a total stellar mass of about 5 million Suns. Scientists believe that Firefly Sparkle represents an early analogue of the Milky Way.
Source: Ferra
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