The Universe's First Galaxies May Light Up Its Dark Ages

A collection of newfound galaxies is illuminating how the early universe broke free from its Dark Ages. "Stars and black holes in the earliest, brightest galaxies must have pumped out so much ultraviolet light that they quickly broke up hydrogen atoms in the surrounding universe," David Sobral, an astrophysicist at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. The results were presented today (Monday, June 27) at the National Astronomy Meeting in Nottingham, England.