Giant rings of ultraviolet light have been marked around some ancient galaxies, sending some scientists reeling from the totally unexpected phenomenon. The odd ultraviolet formations were spotted around several aged galaxies that astronomers had supposed to be astronomically dead inactive, that is. "We haven't seen anything fairly like these rings before," said researcher Michael Rich at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a statement. "These beautiful and very unusual objects strength be telling us something very important about the evolution of galaxies."Astronomers experiential the ultraviolet rings using two orbiting space observatories: NASA's Galaxy development Explorer and Hubble Space Telescope. They studied 30 elliptical and lens shaped "early" galaxies with strong UV emissions to determine why they though early and having no visible signs of star formation were still emitting such lively light. NASA announces the discovery this month. Details of the research appear in the April 21 subject of the Astrophysical Journal. While young and lively galaxies have bluish hues from their active stars, older galaxies emit ruddy collective starlight, NASA officials said in a statement.
This reddish trait of the stars in the very old galaxies allowed scientists to peg the ages of most of the stars at around 10 billion years old. When astronomers studied the same galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists exposed the source of the energetic look.Three quarters of the galaxies were enclosed by tremendous shining rings of ultraviolet light. A few halos were so large they could fit some galaxies the size of the Milky Way, and had ripples in their glow that stretched across 250,000 light years.
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