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UA astronomer discovers new galaxy
Burcin Mutlu Pakdil, an astronomer at the University of Arizona has taken the national spotlight with a recent discovery. Her discovery: a new galaxy called "PGC 1000714". The galaxy is 360 million light years away. It's very rare to discovery any galaxy but the one Burcin discovered is exceptionally rare. Her galaxy is a double-ringed elliptical galaxy. The majority of known and discovered galaxies are spiral galaxies similar to our own, the Milky Way.
Burcin says that she wasn't exactly looking for the galaxy. A colleague of hers was researching a different galaxy when they noticed the new galaxy in the background of the image.
What's next for Burcin? This April she will be traveling to Vancouver to deliver a talk on the TED stage.
A few decades ago, a young girl in Turkey pasted images and quotes from Albert Einstein into her journal. She loved physics. She loved the night sky. And she was told not to pursue science; that it’s competitive, that her country didn’t have many opportunities in astronomy, that women just ended up being teachers. In April, she will deliver a TED Talk about the galaxy that is named after her.
http://www.kvoa.com/story/37538849/ua-astronomer-discovers-new-galaxy