18-year-old Julian Shapiro discovers three unusual dwarf galaxies in high school

Some astronomical discoveries begin with powerful telescopes pointed at distant corners of the universe. Others begin much closer to home, with a teenager willing to spend hours combing through publicly available data and asking why something does not quite fit the expected picture. For Julian Shapiro, that curiosity led to three peculiar dwarf galaxies, an Astrophysical Journal paper with his name alone on it and recognition as a 2026 Davidson Fellow, states the latest report by Berkeley News. Now an undergraduate astrophysics student at UC Berkeley, the 18-year-old New Yorker made the discovery while still in high school. Scroll down to read his story of talent.Three galaxies that broke the patternThe galaxies, now catalogued as Shapiro Dwarf Galaxies I, II and III, share an unusual combination of characteristics. They are small, relatively isolated from other galaxies and, most importantly, appear to have stopped forming stars, states the report.