This object is a polar ring galaxy located 45 million light years away in the constellation of Pisces at a declination of +13 degrees. This 11.2 magnitude galaxy spans 10 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to an actual distance of 130,000 light years.
Polar ring galaxies are uncommon. Only about a dozen have been discovered overall. In a polar ring galaxy, a ring of stars, gas, and dust orbit the galaxy nearly perpendicular to the main disk. In this object, the angle is rather shallow at 60 degrees as seen at the intersection of the dust lanes. I have a collection of my polar ring galaxy images
here.
Astronomers believe that this type of galaxy is formed from a collision of two galaxies. While the galaxies are interacting, the polar ring galaxy gravitationally strips gas and dust from the other galaxy and this newly acquired matter begins orbiting in the perpendicular plane.
Note the many other galaxies present in this image. I especially like the adjacent strong-arm and edge-on galaxies at lower left.
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