Artist's illustration of the early Milky Way

This illustration shows the Milky Way as it may have appeared 11 billion years ago. It was constructed from the all-sky image from Axel Mellinger and Robert Gendler's image of the M33 galaxy.

This imaginary view of our young Milky Way shows the galaxy as it may have appeared 11 billion years ago, as seen from the surface of a hypothetical planet. The night sky looks markedly different than the view today. The Milky Way's disc and central bulge of stars are smaller and dimmer because the galaxy is in an early phase of construction. The heavens are ablaze with a firestorm of new star formation, seen in the pinkish nebulae glowing from stars still wrapped inside their natal cocoons. The handful of stars visible in the night sky are blue and bright because they are young.

Link:

• NASA Press release
• Tracing the growth of Milky Way-like galaxies
• The present and early Milky Way (artist’s illustration)
• Artist's Illustration of the present Milky Way