The team made this discovery through optical 'cheating.' Gravitational lensing from in-between objects magnified the source galaxy by 30 times, giving a peek at stars that would otherwise remain entirely unseen. Astronomers only needed software to correct for the distortions and see the galaxy's star-birthing areas as they would appear in real life.

It's not yet clear why these star-forming areas are so small. That's going to take additional study. However, you might get answers sooner than you think. When the James Webb Space Telescope goes into service, it'll be powerful enough to both cut through galactic dust and detect older stars. That extra detail will help explain the galaxy's history and might just answer numerous questions about star formation as a whole.