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Galaxy LEDA 1313424 (Advanced Camera for Surveys Image)

A large galaxy is at center, and a significantly smaller galaxy is to its immediate left. Both are set on the black background of space, which is dotted with a range of galaxies in different shapes and sizes, along with a few foreground stars.

LEDA 1313424, aptly nicknamed the Bullseye, is two and a half times the size of our Milky Way and has nine rings — six more than any other known galaxy. High-resolution imagery from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirmed eight rings, and data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii confirmed a ninth. Hubble and Keck also confirmed which galaxy dove through the Bullseye, creating these rings: the blue dwarf galaxy that sits to its immediate center-left.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00:09:39.357
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +07:04:49.275
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Pisces
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    567 million light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    Image is about 3.2 arcmin across (about 530,000 light-years)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 17508 (I. Pasha)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    ACS/WFC
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    10 January 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F475W, F814W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    LEDA 1313424
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Collisional ring galaxy
  • Release Date
    February 4, 2025
  • Science Release
    Straight Shot: Hubble Investigates Galaxy with Nine Rings
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Display), 3843 × 3607
    png (29.33 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 3843 × 3607
    tif (30.19 MB)
  • 2000 × 1877
    jpg (1.81 MB)
A large galaxy is at center, and a significantly smaller galaxy is to its immediate left. Both are set on the black background of space, which is dotted with a range of galaxies in different shapes and sizes, along with a few foreground stars.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images were acquired by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Cyan: F475W, Orange: F814W

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

At left is an illustration of our Milky Way galaxy, a spiral galaxy seen face-on. At right is an illustration of the Bullseye Galaxy also seen face-on. It is about two-thirds larger and is made up of multiple rings.

Milky Way Compared to Galaxy LEDA 1313424 (Artist’s Concept)

This illustration compares the size of our own Milky Way galaxy to gargantuan galaxy LEDA 1313424, nicknamed the Bullseye. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years in diameter, and the Bullseye is almost two-and-a-half times larger, at 250,000 light-years across.

An illustration of the Bullseye Galaxy, cataloged LEDA 1313424, seen face-on. It contains nine rings. Overtop each ring is a dotted or opaque circle to indicate where each is.

Diagram of Rings in the Bullseye (Artist’s Concept)

This illustration shows the massive galaxy nicknamed the Bullseye face-on. Dotted circles indicate where each of its rings are, which formed like ripples in a pond after a blue dwarf galaxy (not shown) shot through its core about 50 million years ago. NASA’s Hubble Space...

A graphic labeled “LEDA 1313424, HST ACS/WFC.” At the center is a large galaxy with a significantly smaller galaxy to its center-left on the black background of space.

Galaxy LEDA 1313424 (Compass Image)

This image of collisional ring galaxy LEDA 1313424, nicknamed the Bullseye, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The image shows a scale bar, compass arrows, and color key for reference. The scale bar is labeled in light-years along the...

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 18, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, Imad Pasha (Yale), Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)

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