In the latest discovery, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a peculiar ring-shaped galaxy. This ring-shaped galaxy is known as MCG+07-07-072. It is a barred spiral galaxy present in the Perseus Cluster. It is also known as Abell 426, and this galaxy is almost 320 million light-years away from our planet.
What is a Barred Spiral Galaxy?
A galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars is known as Barred Spiral Galaxy. All two-thirds of galaxies in the observable universe have a bar in their center.
Bars are formed due to density waves radiating from the center of the galaxy. This effect reshapes the orbits of galaxy stars.
Ring-shaped Galaxy
It’s a ring-shaped galaxy because this galaxy outstretched its arms and formed an almost perfect circle around its central disk. MCG+07-07-072 looks mesmerizing; its outstretched arms are loose and thin, coming from its barred core. This galaxy is classified as an SBc(r) galaxy because of its arms. It completes only half a turn around the galaxy.
The galaxy’s beauty is truly exceptional due to the elusive “ring galaxy” appearance. Ring galaxies are rare cosmic phenomena characterized by a circular ring of gas and star formation, utterly detached from the galactic nucleus.
The reason behind its outstretched arms is the ripple effect. It is caused when a smaller galaxy passes through a bigger one’s heart, triggering waves of star formation that push the arms outward. MCG+07-07-072 galaxy is the best example of a ripple effect, making it an amazing object to study for astronomers.
According to some astronomers, gravitational lensing could also play a role in creating ring-shaped appearances. When massive foreground objects warp space around them, they distort the image of background objects and show them into arcs, rings, or multiple points of light. These rings are known as “Einstein rings.” Occur when the lensing and imaged galaxies align perfectly, resulting in mesmerizing visual phenomena.
Hubble telescope shared this image on August 16. It also shares prominent diffraction spikes from numerous stars. Ring-shaped MCG+07-07-072 galaxy reminds us that the universe is full of surprises. As we continue to explore the cosmos, the telescope will reveal full surprises.
So next time you gaze up at the night sky, remember this celestial oddity. This cosmic ring defies the ordinary and invites us to ponder the mysteries of space and time.
