This symphony data of
broadband and narrowband, obtained by the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea,
shows the galaxy NGC 660. Besides being a 20 million light years away and
within the limits of the constellation Pisces, the unusual aspect of NGC 660 is
identified as a polar ring galaxy.
The polar ring
galaxies, rare galaxies have a substantial population of stars, gas and dust
orbiting in rings nearly perpendicular to the plane of the galactic disk.
These
strange appearance settings could have been caused by accidental capture of
material from a passing galaxy near the galactic disk so that, eventually, the
remains were strung on a ring. The violent gravitational interaction explains
the myriad of pink star forming regions that are scattered along the ring of
NGC 660.
The polar ring
component can also be used to study the form of invisible dark matter halo of
the galaxy: we calculate the gravitational influence of dark matter on the
rotation of the ring and disk.
The ring of NGC 660,
wider than the disc, spans over 50,000 light years.
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