Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Helix Galaxy  ·  NGC 2685
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Arp 336, Gary Imm
Arp 336, Gary Imm

Arp 336

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Arp 336, Gary Imm
Arp 336, Gary Imm

Arp 336

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Description

This Arp object, also known as NGC 2685, is a Seyfert polar ring galaxy located 40 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major at a declination of +59 degrees.  It is a magnitude 12.7 galaxy which spans 4 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 50,000 light years.  It is nicknamed the Helix Galaxy.

A polar ring galaxy is a rare type of galaxy with stars, gas and dust orbiting in rings perpendicular to the primary plane of the galaxy. These perpendicular rings are easy to see in the image. It is believed that polar ring galaxies are the result of a prior galaxy merger.

My favorite parts of this image are the many, distinct, winding parallel dust lanes and the blue star clouds which are developing just to the right of the galaxy core.

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