This image from nasa’s Hubble space telescopeReleased on Feb. 4, 2025, Shows the Gargantuan Galaxy Leda 1313424, Aptly Nicknamed the Bullseye. A far smaller blue dwarf galaxy went through the bullseye’s center, leaving nine star-filled rings. Astronomers Using Hubble Identified Eight Visible Rings, More than previously detected by any telescope in any galaxy, and confirmed a ninth using data from the wm keyck observatory in. Previous observations of other galaxies show a maximum of two or three rings.
Hubble and Keck’s Follow-up observations also helped The Researchers Prove Who Galaxy Plunged through the Center of the Bullseye-a blue dwarf galaxy to items center-set. This relevant tiny interloper traveled like a dart through the core of the bullseye about 50 million years ago, leaveing ​​rings in its wake like Ripples in a pond. A Thin Trail of Gas Now Links The Pair, Thought they are currently separated by 130,000 light-yars.
Read more about this “serendipitous discovery.”
Image Credit: Nasa, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter Van Dokkum (Yale)
