Nine Lego-like "building block" galaxies initially detected by Hubble likely contributed to the construction of the Universe as we know it. "These are among the lowest mass galaxies ever directly observed in the early Universe" says Nor Pirzkal of the European Space Agency/STScI.
The galaxies were identified by James Rhoads of Arizona State University, USA, and Chun Xu of the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics. Three of the galaxies appear to be slightly disrupted -- rather than being shaped like rounded blobs, they appear stretched into tadpole-like shapes. This is a sign that they may be interacting and merging with neighbouring galaxies to form larger, cohesive structures.
