A new galaxy has been discovered, and interestingly, it's shaped like a doughnut. According to a press release from the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) on May 25, 2020, the discovery of the galaxy similar to a "cosmic ring of fire" could provide more understanding on how astronomical structures are formed and how they evolve.
According to the lead researcher, Tiantian Yuan, their discovery was unlike any object they've seen before. They managed to capture an image of the galaxy which revealed what it looked like about 11 billion years ago.
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The New Doughnut-Shaped Galaxy R5519
The galaxy, which has been scientifically named R5519, is 11 billion light-years from our Solar System. Astronomers said on Monday that the hole in the middle of the galaxy has a diameter two billion times lengthier than the distance between the Sun and Earth.
Experts have dubbed it the 'ring of fire' since the galaxy is producing stars at a rate 50 times more than the Milky Way. Yuan added that the action is taking place on its ring, which makes its name fit it perfectly.
Galaxies are thought to initially start as small clouds of stars and dust swirling through space. As other clouds grow near, gravity sends these objects tilting into one another and binds them together into larger spinning packs. Consequent collisions can sling material toward a galaxy's edges, creating broad spiral arms containing numerous star colonies.
According to NASA, galaxies show us how elements in the universe are organized on large scales. Furthermore, to fully understand the nature and history of the universe, scientists study how entities are being organized and how that organization has changed throughout cosmic time.
The discovery of the new galaxy is chronicled in the journal Nature Astronomy.
What are Colonial Ring Galaxies?
A ring galaxy is a galaxy that appears round containing a ring in the middle. It usually includes many massive, luminous, young blue stars. Minimal luminous matter can generally be found in its center. Some astronomers believe that ring galaxies are made when a smaller galaxy penetrates the center of a more massive universe.
Yuan and a group of astronomers from around the world used spectroscopic data to recognize the galaxy. Evidence points to their discovery being the first "collisional ring galaxy" situated in the early universe.
Experts say that collisional ring galaxies form after smashing into other galaxies. The formation of a collisional ring galaxy requires the collision of two galaxies to occur. Kenneth Freeman, a co-author of the study from the Australian National University, says that a so-called "thin disk" of material must exist in one galaxy before the collision can happen.
Moreover, he said that their study could help astronomers understand how the Milky Way formed. Freeman added that spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way all possess thin disks which only started developing around nine billion years ago. However, he said that the new collisional ring galaxy found was approximately 11 billion years old.
Freeman says that they are confident that their discovery provides evidence that disk assembly in spiral galaxies happened over a more extended period than previously thought.
