ltra-rare Galaxy Could Be 'one of a Kind'

Olivia Doyle

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

9 February 2017

Strickland, Ashley. "Ultra-rare Galaxy Could Be 'one of a Kind'." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/04/us/rare-hoag-galaxy-discovered/index.html

The article entitled “Ultra-rare Galaxy Could be ‘one of a kind’”, discusses the uniqueness of a small galaxy known as PGC 1000714 that was recently observed by scientists. Although it had been on the list of the catalog of galaxies, there was no description included. Recently, an astrophysicist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences named Patrick Treuthardt took images of this galaxy. To do so, he and his team used “multi-waveband images from a large-diameter telescope to determine the age of its features.” Upon seeing these images, Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil deduced that this galaxy was a rare type that resembled something known as Hoag’s Object, a “non-typical ring galaxy with a round core and perfect, detached outer ring with no signs of a hidden substructure.” When analyzing the galaxy, the rings of it seemed to be the most shocking element to scientists. The two rings appear to be different colors and ages, and thus means that “the galaxy could have experienced two periods of formation and growth. Another possibility is that the outer ring was acquired as the galaxy included parts of a neighboring galaxy, according to the study.” However, scientists say that more data would have to be acquired in order to fully understand how the rings formed and what its inner structure looks like.

Because this article discusses such a rare type of galaxy, much can be learned from observing how it formed. What makes the galaxy so rare is the fact that is has two outer rings, rather than one circular ring surrounding the core. Usually, rings are symmetrical and galaxies have a “visible disk structure that shows how the core and its rings are connected.” However, this galaxy reportedly challenges these theories. These Hoag-type galaxies likely make up less than 0.1 % of observable galaxies. Treuthardt says, “”You could be more likely to be dealt four of a kind in a hand of five-card poker. This galaxy may be one of a kind.”” In learning more about this galaxy, Treuthardt says, “...it helps us better understand galaxy formation and evolution in general.” In doing so, we would be able to learn more about solar system evolution, and even more about the development of our solar system and planet.

This article was very well structured, and provided good background information on the topic. It explained the type of galaxy very well, so that anyone who picked up the article could understand easily. I liked how the author included quotes from each scientist’s point of view on their results as it allowed the reader to understand the process of analyzing this galaxy. The author provided adequate evidence for their claim that this galaxy was “one of a kind”. For example, she talked about the two outer rings in this galaxy, which are not commonly found in Hoag-type galaxies. The author concluded with a quote that caused the reader to think about the effect that this discovery has on humanity, and that opened up the discussion for discoveries of other types of galaxies similar to this one. In addition, the use of pictures was very helpful as it allowed the reader to gain a better understanding of what this galaxy looks like.

Although this article was very well-written and informative, there were some problems with it. For one, I would have liked a more in-depth description of what the galaxy is and how scientists have been able to photograph it. Also, although the part about the rings was suitable evidence for why the galaxy was so rare, I think there needed to be more evidence and information about Hoag-type galaxies in order for the reader to understand what an incredible discovery this really was. The author talked about how there is not enough data yet to learn how the rings formed, and that scientists will need infrared images and spectroscopic data to do so. I think the author should have expanded on this point more, and talked about where scientists will go with this in the future.