Cristiano Ronaldo fans rejoice! CR7 is now the brightest galaxy in the universe

If you are a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, chances are that you are always ready to debate about why he is the greatest football player in the world. Citing his prodigious goal-scoring and multiple Ballons d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards, you’ll try to prove that he has made his name as the world’s best. And now you have another point to profess his greatness, he has made his mark on the universe as well - by having the brightest galaxy named after him. [caption id=“attachment_2301160” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] CR7 - the player and the galaxy. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser, IBNLive[/caption] A newly discovered galaxy has been named ‘CR7’ after the Portugal captain by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) “CR7’s nickname is an abbreviation of COSMOS Redshift 7, a measure of its place in terms of cosmic time. The nickname was inspired by the great Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is known as CR7,” said a statement on the official ESO website. The footballer wears the No 7 jersey when he plays for Portugal and Real Madrid. The galaxy was discovered by a team led by David Sobral, from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon in Portugal. The nationality of the lead scientist on the mission probably explains the name, as Ronaldo is revered in his native Portugal. Looks like one of the perks of making a rare discovery is that you get to name it after your sporting icon! The Cr7 is an exceptionally rare object and by far the brightest galaxy ever observed in the Universe, three times brighter than the brightest distant galaxy known up to now. There is also strong evidence that examples of the first generation of stars lurk within it, according to the ESO. While it still remains to be seen if Ronaldo will go down in history as football’s brightest star, at least he will be the brightest galaxy in the universe. All we can say is that Ronaldo is a Galáctico in more than just football.