Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected water and carbon monoxide molecules in a larger member of SPT-S J031132-5823.4 (SPT0311-58 for short), a pair of galaxies seen when the Universe was only 780 million years old. This detection suggests that the molecular Universe was going strong shortly after the elements were forged in early stars. This artist’s conception shows the dust continuum and molecular...
