https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/17/cocoon_of_carbon_ions/

For the first time, astronomers have stumbled across ancient, ginormous clouds of carbon ions, stretching more than 30,000 light-years across and enveloping young galaxies.

The team, led by Seiji Fujimoto, an egghead at Denmark's University of Copenhagen, had no idea these types of structures even existed, since they have not been predicted by theories. It’s well-known that carbon, one of the most important elements for life, is forged from nuclear fusion in stars, though scientists had no idea how it might spread through space.