Sunday, November 11, 2012

NGC 660 (Picture of the Day: 11/11/12)

NGC 660. Source

This galaxy, NGC 660, is quite peculiar. The nearly vertical bright region is the main disk of the galaxy. But if that's the main disk, then what is that ring perpendicular to it? This strange feature is what makes this galaxy a polar ring galaxy. That ring is comprised of stars and stellar formation regions orbiting around the main disk. This is a very rare phenomenon that may have occurred after this galaxy had a run in with another galaxy and stole some of its material. 

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