NGC 660 is classified as both a peculiar and NGC 660 - Peculiar and Polar-Ring Galaxy. Peculiar galaxies make up between five and ten percent of known galaxies. They have an unusual size and shape. Polar-ring galaxies have an outer ring of gas and stars that rotate over the poles of the galaxy. This may be the result of two galaxies that have gravitationally interacted with each other in the past. One theory is that a smaller galaxy has collided orthogonally at the place of rotation of the larger galaxy. The smaller galaxy effectively forms the polar-ring structure. Another theory is that material is tidally stripped from a passing galaxy to produce the polar ring of material.

The ring is not running along the poles, but more at an inclination from the plane of the host disk at approximately 45 degrees. This ring extends 50,000 light-years across, much larger than the host disk.

NGC 660 is located 45 million light-years away in the Pisces constellation. It presents a target of 2.7 X 0.84 arcmin, making it a challenging object for small telescopes. It has an apparent magnitude of 12.0.

When I first looked that the raw data, it was clear that this galaxy had an interesting story to tell. Something in the past resulted in the very twisted object we see today, a cosmic train wreck. Interacting galaxies often result in something unique that stands out as unusual in many ways. Visually they are just weird, and I love that sort of thing.

I created two versions of this object, first a traditional Lum RGB image and a second enhanced with Ha data. Both are beautiful objects, and I didn’t know which version to post. In the end, I went with the Ha enhanced version. To my eye, It brought a little more depth and warmth to the final result. I didn’t have the heart to crop away all of the small galaxies, so I left the majority of the frame. Presenting it this way may have less impact visually as the object is small, but it allows for some context with NGC 660 almost looking suspended in the depths of the cosmos against a background filled with tiny galaxies spread throughout the field.

Instruments:

10 Inch fl 9.1 RCOS

Astro Physics AP-900 Mount

SBIG STL 11000m

FLI Filter Wheel

Astrodon Lum, Red, Green, Blue Filters

Baader Planetarium H-alpha 7nm Narrowband-Filter

Exposure Details

Red 12 X 900

Green 8 X 900

Blue 16 X 900

Lum 63 X 900

Ha 25 X 900

Total Exposure Ha Lum RGB 31 Hours.

Location

Australia, Central Victoria