| Quasar light absorbed by gas in the protogalaxy has revealed the fingerprints of 25 star-forged elements. |
| The protogalaxy probably has since coalesced into a giant elliptical galaxy, he says. |
| They pointed out that cold gas streaming into a massive protogalaxy would heat up from the gravitational energy gained by falling in and would glow of its own accord as a way of cooling off. |
| Rather, Shen's team suggests that the spinning disk of the protogalaxy could have naturally generated a handlelike bar that then thickened on its own. |
| The so-called protogalaxy resides about 11 billion light-years from Earth. |
