Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Pisces (Psc)  ·  Contains:  NGC 660
NGC 660, Greg Allegretti
NGC 660
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NGC 660

NGC 660, Greg Allegretti
NGC 660
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 660

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Description

This peculiar galaxy is one of an uncommon class called “polar ring galaxies.” Its odd shape is due to an encounter with another galaxy but it is uncertain if this was a merger or a near miss. The ring in this case is inclined at an angle to the central disk and the ring's diameter (about 50,000 light years) exceeds that of the disk. Active star formation is evident by the pink colored regions in the ring. The object is a radio source.

NGC 660 is 45 million light years distant in the direction of the constellation Pisces.

This image was captured under high desert skies near Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA with a telescope of 12" aperture at f/8 and an electrically-cooled CCD camera. Total exposure (HaLRGB) was approximately 14 hours.

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NGC 660, Greg Allegretti