While the typical Abell galaxy cluster reminds me of the grandeur of a Star Wars movie, this cluster known as II Zwicky 73 cluster looks more like a Monty Pyhon sketch. Many odd and interesting characters abound.
This object is a small galaxy cluster located 250 million light years away in the constellation of Bootes at a declination of +43 degrees. Use the Astrobin mouseover to identify these 5 galaxies. All of them line up in a curved line across the image and are at the same distance away from us. All look completely different. 4 of the 5 have rather unique structures.
The star of the show is UGC 9796 (PGC 54461), the most unique polar ring galaxy I have even seen. The bright yellow galaxy disk is 40,000 light years across, while the dimmer vertical polar ring is 140,000 light years long. This rotating polar ring consists of younger stars and is believed to be due to a transfer of mass from a companion galaxy, which has now been absorbed in the merger. This object is similar in structure to
LEDA 6101.
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