Astronomers led by a team from Yale University have made a groundbreaking discovery – a super-sized galaxy called LEDA 1313424, nicknamed the “Bullseye” due to its nine concentric rings. This cosmic wonder was formed around 50 million years ago when two smaller galaxies collided, creating the symmetrical ring system.
The Bullseye galaxy is remarkable not only for its unique appearance but also for providing valuable insights into galaxy formation and dark matter distribution. With a diameter of approximately 250,000 light-years, it is nearly twice as large as the Milky Way.
Researchers used data from various telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble Telescope, to identify eight rings using ground-based imaging surveys and a ninth ring using the Keck Cosmic Web Imager. The discovery has sparked excitement among scientists, who say it could shed new light on how dark matter is distributed within galaxies.
The Bullseye galaxy may hold the key to understanding this phenomenon, as its massive size suggests that it is evolving into a different category of galaxy known as a giant low surface brightness galaxy. This study breaks records for most rings discovered in this type system and provides critical observational data for future research.
The team’s findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, with co-authors from Yale University, the University of Toronto, and Swinburne University in Australia contributing to the research.
Source: https://news.yale.edu/2025/02/04/bullseye-yale-led-team-finds-giant-galaxy-record-nine-rings