Far out: Most distant galaxy cluster discovered

There's been more out-of-this-world news this week from both the far reaches of the universe and the edge of our solar system.

NASA discovered the most distant galaxy cluster ever seen: some 11.1 billion light years from Earth. A galaxy cluster is a structure that can contain hundreds or even thousands of galaxies.

This cluster, given the inelegant name of CL J1001+0220, is the largest known structure in the universe that's held together by gravity, according to NASA.

The discovery is also noteworthy because the cluster may have been spotted right after its birth, scientists say.

“This galaxy cluster isn’t just remarkable for its distance, it’s also going through an amazing growth spurt unlike any we’ve ever seen,” said Tao Wang of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission who led the study, published Tuesday in the Astrophysical Journal.

The study suggests the galaxy cluster may be undergoing a transformation from a forming cluster, known as a “protocluster,” to a mature one. Astronomers have never found a galaxy cluster at this precise stage.

The discovery pushes back the formation time of galaxy clusters by about 700 million years. The result is based on data from several observatories and telescopes in space and on the ground, including the Chandra X-ray observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.

A bit closer to home, astronomers say that they've spotted a few never-before-seen small objects at the far reaches of our solar system.

Finding these small objects is key to discovering the location of the mysterious ninth planet (dubbed Planet Nine or Planet X) that may exist far beyond Pluto, which is no longer classified as a planet.

“Objects found far beyond Neptune hold the key to unlocking our solar system’s origins and evolution,” said Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science, who led the research, which also appears in the the Astronomical Journal.

“Though we believe there are thousands of these small objects, we haven’t found very many of them yet, because they are so far away." he said. "The smaller objects can lead us to the much bigger planet we think exists out there."