Which galaxy's name was inspired by Ronaldo's CR7 nickname?

Cosmos Redshift 7 was the galaxy whose name was inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo’s CR7 nickname.

The galaxy is commonly abbreviated CR7, matching Ronaldo’s famous initials-and-shirt-number brand. The scientific name itself means COSMOS Redshift 7: COSMOS identifies the survey field, while “redshift 7” refers to its extreme distance and the fact that astronomers see it as it existed in the early universe.

Astronomers led by David Sobral identified CR7 in 2015 using observations from major ground- and space-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. It attracted attention because it was exceptionally bright for such an ancient galaxy and showed evidence relevant to the study of early stellar populations.

A common mix-up is assuming CR7 is an official astronomical tribute to Ronaldo. The abbreviation was inspired by the footballer, but the full name is a technical astronomical designation, not a football reference. “Redshift 7” also does not mean the galaxy is seven light-years away; its redshift measures how strongly its light has been stretched by cosmic expansion.