Astronomers using ALMA have directly observed a pair of Milky Way-like galaxies seen as they appeared billions of years ago. These progenitors of today’s giant spiral galaxies are surrounded by "super halos" of hydrogen gas that extend many tens-of-thousands of light-years beyond their dusty, star-filled disks. Produced by Alexandra Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF). Written and Narrated by Charles Blue (NRAO/AUI/NSF). Animations and Footage courtesy of A. Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF), NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Cruz deWilde and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing and B. O'Shea, M. Norman; ESO/C. Malin. Science image courtesy of ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Neeleman, J. Xavier Prochaska, and W. M. Keck Observatory. Music by Geodesium.

Credit: Produced by Alexandra Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Written and narrated by Charles Blue (NRAO/AUI/NSF); Animations and footage courtesy of Alexandra Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF); NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Cruz deWilde and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing and B. O'Shea, M. Norman; ESO/C.Malin; Science images courtesy of M. Neeleman & J. Xavier Prochaska; Keck Observatory; Music by Geodesium