A rare galaxy thats challenging our understanding of the universe Burin MutluPakdil
There are more than a trillion
galaxies in the universe.
And my team discovered
an extremely rare one,
a galaxy that doesn’t look
quite like anything observed before.
This galaxy is so peculiar,
that it challenges our theories
and our assumptions
about how the universe works.
The majority of the galaxies are spiral,
similar to our own Milky Way.
We have strong theories about how
these common galaxies form and evolve.
But we don’t understand
how rare galaxies form and evolve.
An especially puzzling rare case
is Hoag’s Object.
It has a very symmetric central body
surrounded by a circular outer ring,
with nothing visible connecting them.
Hoag-type galaxies are among the rarest
types of galaxies currently known.
There are fewer than one
in 1,000 galaxies.
It’s a mystery how the stars
in the outer ring are just floating there
in such an orderly manner.
That’s interesting, right?
Hold on.
Things are about to get more mysterious.
The galaxy that my team
discovered is even rarer
and much more complex than that.
You know, sometimes, you search
and search for these objects,
and you find nothing.
But sometimes, it just appears
in the background,
when you are not even looking for it.
This system looks very similar
to Hoag’s Object,
with its central body
and circular outer ring.
We got very excited and thought
we discovered another Hoag’s Object.
But my research showed
this is an entirely new galaxy type,
now commonly referred to
as “Burçin’s Galaxy.”
(Laughs)
(Cheers) (Applause)
We will not be visiting
this galaxy anytime soon.
It is approximately 359 million
light years away from Earth.
You may think this is far.
Well, actually, this is one
of the nearby galaxies.
I study this object in different light –
in ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared.
Small details on our body,
like a scar or wrinkles,
tell the story of our lives.
Similarly, a galaxy’s structure
in different light
can help us trace back
their origin and evolution.
How do I look for these details?
I model the bright central body
and remove my model from the image
to check for any hidden features,
because a bright structure in a galaxy
may blind our views of faint features,
just like using sunglasses
when you are blinded by the intense light.
The result was a big surprise.
This galaxy doesn’t just
have an outer ring,
it has an additional, diffused inner ring.
We were having a hard time
explaining the origin of the outer ring
in Hoag-type galaxies.
Now we also need to explain
this mysterious second ring.
There is currently no known mechanism
that can explain the existence of an inner
ring in such a peculiar galaxy.
So the discovery of Burçin’s Galaxy
clearly highlights the gap
in our knowledge of galaxy evolution.
Further research into how
this extremely rare galaxy was formed
can provide us with new clues
on how the universe works.
This discovery tells us
that we still have a lot to learn,
and we should keep looking
deeper and deeper in space
and keep searching for the unknown.
Thank you.
(Applause)