Astronomers captured a super-rare type of galaxy

Science & Tech 18:25 26.05.2020

Astronomers have seen a very curious object that they never saw before. They recently captured an image of a super-rare type of galaxy named R5519, which lies 11 billion light-years from the Solar System, EDNews.net reports citing Tech Explorist.

The galaxy with the mass similar to the Milky Way, has a shape of a ring, rather like a titanic doughnut; thus astronomers dubbed it as a “cosmic ring of fire.” Its disclosure is set to stir up hypotheses about the earliest formation of galactic structures and how they develop.

It appears as a circle with a truly massive hole in the middle, with a diameter two billion times longer than the distance between the Earth and the Sun. In other words, it is three million times bigger than the diameter of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy Messier 87.

Dr. Tiantian Yuan, from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), said, “It is making stars at a rate 50 times greater than the Milky Way. Most of that activity is taking place on its ring – so it truly is a ring of fire.”

Astronomers used the spectroscopic data gathered by the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii. They captured images using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to identify the unusual structure.

ASTRO 3D co-author, Dr. Ahmed Elagali, based at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Western Australia, said, “studying R5519 would help determine when spiral galaxies began to develop.”

“Further, constraining the number density of ring galaxies through cosmic time can also be used to put constraints on the assembly and evolution of local-like galaxy groups,” he added.

Another co-author, Professor Kenneth Freeman from the Australian National University, said, “the discovery had implications for understanding how galaxies like the Milky Way formed.”

“The collisional formation of ring galaxies requires a thin disk to be present in the ‘victim’ galaxy before the collision occurs.”

“The thin disk is the defining component of spiral galaxies: before it assembled, the galaxies were in a disorderly state, not yet recognizable as spiral galaxies.”

 

“In the case of this ring galaxy, we are looking back into the early universe by 11 billion years, into a time when thin disks were only assembling. For comparison, the thin disk of our Milky Way began to come together only about nine billion years ago. This discovery is an indication that disk assembly in spiral galaxies occurred over a more extended period than previously thought.”

The evidence suggests it is a type known as a “collisional ring galaxy,” making it the first one ever located in the early Universe. In the nearby “local” Universe, they are 1000 times rarer than the internally created type. Images of the much more distant R5519 stem from about 10.8 billion years ago, just three billion years after the Big Bang. They indicate that collisional ring galaxies have always been extremely uncommon.

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Brazil’s president sounds alarm over multilateralism crisis, condemns Gaza genocide at BRICS summit
11:30 08.07.2025
Protest Held in London Backing Pro-Palestine March Organizers Accused of Offences
11:15 08.07.2025
Japan to make diplomatic efforts to ensure implementation of Israel-Iran ceasefire: Top diplomat
11:00 08.07.2025
Trump Holds Talks with Netanyahu at the White House
10:45 08.07.2025
Trump says US has 'scheduled Iran talks'
10:30 08.07.2025
Trump says US will supply weapons to Ukraine
10:15 08.07.2025
Priorities of Azerbaijan's international development policy discussed
10:00 08.07.2025
US to impose 25% duties on imports from Kazakhstan from August
09:45 08.07.2025
Plans for border delimitation, demarcation with Armenia discussed in Baku
09:30 08.07.2025
Israel wants to coordinate with US on possibility of new strikes on Iran
09:15 08.07.2025
Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
09:00 08.07.2025
Geno rejects signing of 38-year-old Jamie Vardy
21:00 07.07.2025
Gaza death toll passes 57,500 as Israeli attacks continue unabated
20:45 07.07.2025
Russian emergencies minister arrives in Baku
20:25 07.07.2025
Trump due to meet Netanyahu at White House
20:15 07.07.2025
Russia attacks recruitment centers in Ukraine's Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia
20:00 07.07.2025
Pezeshkian says Israel attempted assassination against him
19:45 07.07.2025
Iran has military capability to strike Israel daily for 2 years, IRGC adviser says
19:20 07.07.2025
US envoy says ‘satisfied’ with Lebanese response on roadmap to disarm Hezbollah
19:00 07.07.2025
Peskov: Russia, Azerbaijan should remain close partners, allies
18:45 07.07.2025
The Gulf Observer: Armenians' destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage - vandalism against all humanity
18:30 07.07.2025
Official: Nearly 1M foreigners arrived in Azerbaijan in 5 months of 2025
18:15 07.07.2025
Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijan Army visits Saudi Arabia
18:00 07.07.2025
Israeli PM approved Yemen airstrikes during his flight to US
17:45 07.07.2025
Expert: ECO Summit in Khankendi confirmed member countries' desire for inclusive, multipolar world
17:30 07.07.2025
AZAL introduces new online service
17:15 07.07.2025
Poland imposes checks on German and Lithuanian borders amid migration fears
17:00 07.07.2025
Saudi Arabia raises August oil prices for Asia, Europe buyers
16:45 07.07.2025
EU Reporter: Karabakh region became platform for int'l forums
16:15 07.07.2025
Georgian PM says direct foreign interference in democratic elections failed
16:00 07.07.2025
Typhoon Danas kills two in Taiwan, injures over 500
15:45 07.07.2025
'Coalition of the Willing' may fall apart over Starmer-Macron conflict
15:30 07.07.2025
Former Adjara head hospitalized with gunshot wound in Georgia
15:15 07.07.2025
Scientists reveal how caffeine slows down aging
15:00 07.07.2025
Thailand to offer US more trade concessions to avert 36% tariff
14:45 07.07.2025
Putin dismisses transport minister
14:30 07.07.2025
Israel carries out strikes on Houthi-controlled power station, ports across Yemen
14:15 07.07.2025
UK to name Iran as one of its biggest threats
14:00 07.07.2025
Armenia rejects possibility of using country's territory for military purposes
13:45 07.07.2025
Mexico defeats US for second consecutive Gold Cup title
13:30 07.07.2025
Hamısı