Astronomers spy distant galaxy – and it looks 'surprisingly like our Milky Way'

Because these galaxies are so distant from Earth, detailed observations with even the most powerful telescopes are almost impossible as the galaxies appear so faint.

The researchers overcame this obstacle by using a nearby galaxy as a powerful magnifying glass – a technique called ‘gravitational lensing’.

This harnesses the gravitational pull from a nearby galaxy, which distorts the light from the distant galaxy, causing it to appear misshapen and magnified.

This allowed Earth-based ALMA to see into the distant past in unprecedented detail.

The gravitationally lensed, distant galaxy appears as a near-perfect ring of light around the nearby galaxy, thanks to their almost exact alignment.

source: express.co.uk