Triple Ring Galaxy
The formation of this extremely rare triple-ring galaxy is still an enigma to scientists.
An image taken by the Japanese telescope Subarulocated on the island of Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, revealed a extremely rare triple ring galaxylocated about 800 million light years from our planet.
The discovery, announced by , highlights that scientists still do not know how this galaxy formed.
The classical galaxy classification system is based on the Hubble sequence and divides these bodies into four types different types: elliptical, lenticular, spiral and irregular.
Elliptical galaxies have a rounded or oval shape and a uniform distribution of stars, while lenticular galaxies are flatter and have a central bulge.
Spirals, like our Milky Way, have a central region with spiral-shaped stellar arms, and irregular galaxies do not follow any specific pattern of shape or structure.
As galaxies with rings do not easily fit into any of these categories, something that has provoked several discussions over time about the need to revise the Hubble sequence, since the traditional classification may not be suitable for classifying phenomena as different as those that sometimes arise.
It’s true that galaxies typically follow predictable evolutionary trajectories, but ring galaxies defy all expectations, making scientists want to know more about their mysterious training process.
One of the most accepted theories suggests that these galaxies form through collisions: When a galaxy passes through the center of a spiral galaxy, it can cause shock waves that disperse gas and dust, forming a ring around the nucleus.
Another hypothesis points to the gravitational resonancein which the movement of gas in galaxies creates areas of high density, resulting in rings of different shapes.
Currently, the citizen science project Galaxy Cruiseresponsible for classifying the Subaru telescope images, believes that ring galaxies form after collisions, but the exact origin of the newly identified triple ring galaxy remains unknown.
