Galaxy of ‘emerald-cut diamond’ stars dazzles astronomers

 

 

 

By: Lesley Ciarula Taylor Staff Reporter, Published on Wed Mar 28 2013

It is the 74,886th galaxy in the Lyon Extragalactic DAtabase (LEDA) of 1.5 million galaxies, but some people are calling the new rectangular cosmic jewel Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

“We did unofficially refer to it as the ‘emerald-cut’ galaxy” because of its striking resemblance to an emerald-cut diamond, Australian astronomer Dr. Alister Graham told the Star. That triggered the even more unofficial name from the old Beatles song.

And it fits, said Graham. When he and his colleagues first spotted LEDA 074886 some 70 million light years away, their reaction was “Wow, will you look at that.”

The astronomers discovered the galaxy last year but are just reporting it now in the Astrophysics Journal. 

The dazzling dwarf galaxy with its spinning deep blue core, blinding white “emerald-cut” surface and sparking red rim is an astronomic anomaly.

“Symmetrical rectangular galaxies are very unusual. We were very surprised to find it,” said Graham.

Its importance isn’t just in its shape, he said. It helps explain other new cosmic discoveries.

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