Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2025 February 7
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)
Explanation: The giant galaxy cataloged as LEDA 1313424 is about two and a half times the size of our own Milky Way. Its remarkable appearance in this recently released Hubble Space Telescope image strongly suggests its nickname "The Bullseye Galaxy". Known as a collisional ring galaxy it has nine rings confirmed by telescopic observations, rippling from its center like waves from a pebble dropped into a pond. Of course, the pebble dropped into the Bullseye galaxy was a galaxy itself. Telescopic observations identify the blue dwarf galaxy at center-left as the likely collider, passing through the giant galaxy's center and forming concentric rings in the wake of their gravitational interaction. The Bullseye Galaxy lies some 567 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces. At that distance, this stunning Hubble image would span about 530,000 light-years.
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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