NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, in addition to other telescopes, has discovered the most distant galaxy cluster in the history of astronomical sciences. The galaxy cluster has been discovered right after its formation, which is a brief yet important stage in the evolution of a galaxy.

The galaxy cluster dubbed CL J1001+0220 is located at a distance of 11.1 billion light-years from Earth, according to the press statement released by NASA. According to the American space agency, the discovery of the galaxy cluster pushes back the formation time of this object by almost 700 million years. The object is believed to be the largest formation in the universe that is held together by gravity alone.

According to Tao Wang, lead researcher from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, the galaxy cluster is expanding at a rate that has never been seen before. Another striking characteristic of the cluster is its huge distance from the Earth.

The core of the CL J1001 galaxy possesses 11 other massive galaxies, out of which 9 are giving birth to stars continuously.  It is estimated that stars are forming at an enormous rate which is equivalent to the formation of around 3,000 suns in a year. This is a huge rate, especially for a cluster located at such a great distance and young age as that of CL J1001.

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered the galaxy based on the large amount of hot gas, which is one of the defining features of a galaxy cluster. The researchers believe that they have caught the galaxy at a rare and critical stage, just when several loose collections of galaxies came together to form a fully-formed and young cluster.

A study of the galaxy has revealed that elliptical galaxies inside a cluster may form new stars at a great rate in shorter and violent outbursts, as compared to galaxies that are present outside a galaxy cluster. In addition, star formation tends to take place in such galaxies when they have fallen into a cluster and not before this phenomenon.