''BABY'' MILKY WAY : DISCOVERY

PARIS : A golden halo glinting 12 billion light years away is the farthest galaxy resembling our Milky Way yet spotted, astronomers said on Wednesday.

Adding, that the ''surprisingly unchaotic'' infant star system challenges our understanding of the early years of the universe. 

The galaxy, called SPY0418-47, is so far away that it took billions of years for its light to reach the earth and so our image of it from deep in the past, said European Southern Observatory [ESO], which was involved in the discovery.

This was when the Universe was 1.4 billion years old - just 10 percent of its current age - and galaxies were still forming.

The ''baby'' SPT0418-47 was picked up by the powerful Alma radio Telescope in Chile using a technique called gravitational lensing, where a nearby galaxy acts as a powerful magnifying glass, the ESO said in a statement. [AFP]