--- ---  # See the Giant Cluster of Galaxies NASA Just Discovered  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 4, 2015 10:26 PM UTC  The galaxy cluster called MOO J1142+1527 can be seen here as it existed when light left it 8.5 billion years ago. The galaxy cluster called MOO J1142+1527 can be seen here as it existed when light left it 8.5 billion years ago.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Gemini/CARMA  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 4, 2015 10:26 PM UTC NASA telescopes have spotted a galaxy cluster 8.5 billion light-years away, the space agency [announced](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4762&utm%5Fsource=iContact&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=NASAJPL&utm%5Fcontent=spitzer20151103) Tuesday. It is the most massive structure ever found such a long distance from Earth. The space agency explains a galaxy cluster is a group of thousands of galaxies, each of which contain hundreds of billions of stars, and grow bigger over time. Because light takes time to reach earth, scientists can see these objects as if they were in the past. NASA is now watching this galaxy cluster called Massive Overdense Object (MOO) J1142+1527 as it was 8.5 billion years ago, long before the Earth formed. “Based on our understanding of how galaxy clusters grow from the very beginning of our universe, this cluster should be one of the five most massive in existence at that time,” Peter Eisenhardt, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a post on NASA’s [website](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4762&utm%5Fsource=iContact&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=NASAJPL&utm%5Fcontent=spitzer20151103). NASA Finds Giant Galaxy Cluster 8.5 Billion Light-Years Away ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4098873/see-the-giant-cluster-of-galaxies-nasa-just-discovered/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4098873/see-the-giant-cluster-of-galaxies-nasa-just-discovered/"},"headline":"See the Giant Cluster of Galaxies NASA Just Discovered","datePublished":"2015-11-04T22:26:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:19:15.712Z","description":"It's 8.5 billion light-years away","url":"https://time.com/4098873/see-the-giant-cluster-of-galaxies-nasa-just-discovered/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb1bdd958ba3ef03/69886f67cd1bba20246fdece/galaxy-cluster-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb1bdd958ba3ef03/69886f67cd1bba20246fdece/galaxy-cluster-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NASA Galaxy Cluster","caption":"NASA Galaxy Cluster","creditText":"NASA/JPL-Caltech/Gemini/CARMA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4098873/see-the-giant-cluster-of-galaxies-nasa-just-discovered/","name":"See the Giant Cluster of Galaxies NASA Just Discovered"}}]}] ```