Astronomers have been surprised by a "gold rush" of new galaxies, racking up 49 discoveries in just 3 hours.
The gas-rich galaxies were uncovered by a team using the MeerKAT radio telescope located in South Africa. They have been dubbed the "forty-niners," a callback to the nickname given to the thousands of gold miners who flocked to California during the state's Gold Rush, which peaked in 1849. The nickname is now carried by the San Francisco 49ers American football team.
