Physics

Barred spiral galaxy

Spiral (railway)

Mathematics

Grand design spiral galaxy

Galaxy

Star formation

Bulge

Astronomy

Lenticular galaxy

Mathematical analysis

RADIUS

Galaxy formation and evolution

Irregular galaxy

Billion years

Computer science

Astrophysics

COSMIC cancer database

Redshift

Computer security

Spiral galaxy

Universe

Science

Spiral galaxies have distinct internal structures including a stellar bulge, disk and spiral arms. It is unknown when in cosmic history these structures formed. We analyze observations of BRI 1335-0417, an intensely star-forming galaxy in the distant Universe, at redshift 4.41. The [C II] gas kinematics show a steep velocity rise near the galaxy center and have a two-armed spiral morphology that extends from about 2 to 5 kiloparsecs in radius. We interpret these features as due to a central compact structure, such as a bulge, a rotating gas disk and either spiral arms or tidal tails. These features had been formed within 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, long before the peak of cosmic star formation.

Spiral morphology in an intensely star-forming disk galaxy more than 12 billion years ago