epoch

Enthusiasts of the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age will be delighted to learn of the more quotidian arts that rounded out this visually rich epoch: hand-wrought lace, calligraphy, botanical illustrations and more.

"The low metallicity environment, meaning the reduced abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, is interesting because it's similar to galaxies at earlier cosmological epochs," Sewilo explained.

Although the event occurred in the early Holocene epoch, when global temperatures were naturally higher than during the last Ice Age, the same physical processes are relevant today.

Frieman: The data from these surveys allow us to infer the history of cosmic expansion -- how fast the universe has been expanding at different epochs in the past.

"This work helps bridge the gap between the epoch of reionisation and the so-called cosmic noon, when star formation peaked," said Danhaive, who is also affiliated with the Cavendish Laboratory.