Reporting about the very far away is difficult, as journalists routinely rely on interviews and observation. Deborah Byrd, editor of long-running EarthSky.org, has written a classic example of a “discovery story” about scientific observation of the long ago and very far away.

She uses simples techniques and summary. I love the literal bottom line:

Bottom line: Astronomers have used radio telescopes to obtain a first-ever look at the distant galaxies where most of today’s stars were born, 10 billion years ago.

She starts with a similar summary. Then she explains the discovery, the tools that allowed it, and the challenge for observers. She uses comparison to familiar items — dust and mobile phones.

Read it via Witnessing the birth of today’s stars | Space | EarthSky