Discovery: International team discovered the “Bullseye Galaxy” (LEDA 1313424), a collisional ring galaxy, using Hubble and Keck observatories.
Unusual Structure: The Bullseye Galaxy has nine rings, a rarity as most ringed galaxies have only two or three. Hubble confirmed eight rings, and Keck Observatory confirmed the ninth.
Formation: Rings formed ~50 million years ago from a head-on collision with a blue dwarf galaxy, triggering gas waves and star formation in ring patterns.
Size & Distance: Located ~534 million light-years away in Pisces, spanning 250,000 light-years (2.5x Milky Way’s size). A gas trail connects it to the colliding dwarf galaxy, separated by 130,000 light-years.
Future GLSB Galaxy? The Bullseye Galaxy might evolve into a Giant Low Surface Brightness (GLSB) galaxy, relevant for dark matter studies. Its size and hydrogen content indicate candidacy.
GLSB Significance: GLSB galaxies are diffuse, low-density galaxies with large amounts of hydrogen but low star formation, potentially filled with dark matter. They also exhibit a uniform central mass distribution, challenging standard cosmological models.
Evolutionary Link: Scientists have an opportunity to obtain the first direct observational evidence of a collisional ring galaxy turning into a GLSB galaxy
