Astronomers find new galaxies

AUSTIN , Texas, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Two U.S. astronomers have detected galaxies that may provide clues to the evolution of Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way.

Caryl Gronwall, senior research associate at Penn State University, and Eric Gawiser, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University, reported on their discovery this week at a conference in Austin, Texas, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The galaxies were seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Gronwall and Gawiser said they formed early in the history of the universe, when it was 2 billion years old.

"Finding these objects and discovering that they are a step in the evolution of our galaxy is akin to finding a key fossil in the path of human evolution," Gawiser said.

The galaxies are far smaller than the Milky Way, at about 10 percent of its size and with 5 percent of its mass.