Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Helix Galaxy  ·  NGC 2685

Image of the day 07/05/2023

    NGC 2685, Polar Ring Galaxy, Kent Wood
    NGC 2685, Polar Ring Galaxy
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    Image of the day 07/05/2023

      NGC 2685, Polar Ring Galaxy, Kent Wood
      NGC 2685, Polar Ring Galaxy
      Powered byPixInsight

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      Description

      NGC 2685 is a lenticular and polar ring galaxy that lies about 41 million light years distant.  Polar ring galaxies are rare and exhibit an outer ring of stars, gas and dust that orbits in a plane perpendicular to the normally flat plane of a spiral galaxy.  There are a couple of prevailing ideas regarding the evolution of such a galaxy.  One suggests that the galactic material is tidally stripped from a passing galaxy.  The other proposes a collision of a smaller galaxy with a larger, the smaller approaching with its plane of rotation perpendicular to that of the larger.In NGC 2685 we see filamentary strands forming a helical band that runs perpendicular to the main disk.  It is centered on the galactic nucleus and consists of knots of luminous stellar clusters and nurseries.  What we see suggests that NGC 2685 once had a smaller companion that has been captured, and with which it has merged forming the helical, luminous rings we see today. This image gives the appearance of the galaxy spiraling towards us, but in fact, it is receding from earth at a speed of close to 900 km/second or slightly more than 3.2 million kph!

      Image acquisition info:
      Date: March 2023
      Location: Fairview, UT
      Telescope: Planewave 17
      Camera: QHY 600M
      LRGB: 40:21:21:21 (600s subs-17 hours)

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      NGC 2685, Polar Ring Galaxy, Kent Wood