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LEDA 1313424, nicknamed the Bullseye, is a collisional ring galaxy about 250,000 light-years across—roughly two and a half times the Milky Way’s diameter—with nine identified rings. Hubble resolved eight of them; observations from the W. M. Keck Observatory confirmed the ninth. The finding, reported by NASA and in a paper published February 4, 2025, marks the largest number of rings reported for a collisional ring galaxy at the time of publication.
How did the Bullseye galaxy get nine rings?
A small blue dwarf galaxy likely passed through the center of the larger Bullseye about 50 million years ago. The passage disturbed the galaxy’s material, sending waves inward and outward through it and triggering star formation in the resulting rings—much like ripples spreading across a pond.
NASA reports that a thin trail of gas connects the galaxies. ESA places them about 130,000 light-years apart today. Those details support the collision explanation, though the dwarf’s role is described as likely rather than certain.
Did Hubble see all nine rings?
No. Hubble imaging resolved eight visible rings. Keck observations confirmed the ninth. The distinction matters: the striking image is from Hubble, but the nine-ring count draws on observations from both observatories.
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How big is the Bullseye galaxy?
NASA gives the Bullseye’s diameter as about 250,000 light-years, compared with about 100,000 light-years for the Milky Way. These are approximate measurements of the two galaxies, not a general size comparison for ring galaxies.
The outermost emission associated with the Bullseye lies about 70 kiloparsecs from its center. The research team linked it to the galaxy using spectroscopy; deeper imaging from the Dragonfly Telephoto Array supports interpreting it as part of an older, fading ring. This faint outer feature helps explain why the ring count is not simply a matter of looking at the most prominent rings in the Hubble image.
Was there once a tenth ring?
Possibly, but it has not been observed as a distinct ring. NASA says the team suspects an outermost tenth ring once existed and has since faded until it is no longer detectable. The observed count remains nine.
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The locations of the rings fit analytic predictions for a system that may originally have had ten. In the peer-reviewed paper, the authors also report elevated neutral hydrogen relative to the galaxy’s stellar mass. Together, these findings inform how researchers study the Bullseye’s structure; they do not establish a universal pattern for collisional ring galaxies.
Why is this discovery scientifically useful?
The Bullseye gives astronomers an unusually clear case for studying how a galaxy responds to a direct collision. Its size and structure also support a possible evolutionary route from collisional ring galaxies toward giant low-surface-brightness galaxies. That is a proposed pathway, not a settled fate for all ring galaxies.
Yale’s account notes that the rings could help researchers model the distribution of dark matter in the Bullseye. The rings are not a direct observation of dark matter; their structure may instead provide clues for models of the galaxy’s mass.
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What the Hubble image does—and does not—show
The image’s visual impact comes from the rings Hubble resolved, but the full scientific result depends on combining instruments and types of evidence: Hubble imaging for eight visible rings, Keck data for the ninth, spectroscopy for the distant emission, and deep Dragonfly imaging to support the interpretation of that emission as a fading ring. The nine-ring result was reported by the research team led by Imad Pasha in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on February 4, 2025.
For image republication, ESA lists NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha, and Pieter van Dokkum as credits and identifies CC BY 4.0 International or the ESA Standard Licence as applicable options. Confirm the licence and its credit requirements for the specific image before reusing it.
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