This poster is a collection of polar ring galaxies that I have imaged. The information and categorizations here are primarily taken from the excellent 1990 paper, “NEW OBSERVATIONS AND A PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF POLAR-RING GALAXIES”, by Whitmore and others.
The formation and structure of polar ring galaxies are fascinating to me. They are often small and distant, making them difficult to image.
As stated in the notes on the poster, polar ring galaxies are multi-spin galaxies with 2 axes of rotation. The multi-spin is believed to be the result of a galaxy merger, in which the host galaxy accretes stars, dust and gas from a nearby companion galaxy. Sometimes these companions are still present, sometimes not. Typically, the accreted material forms a large, almost perpendicular ring around the host galaxy. Often the host galaxy appears yellow (older stars) and the accreted ring appears blue (recently formed stars). Unlike other merger results, polar ring galaxies are believed to be a relatively stable configuration, in a quasi-equilibrium state.
Each of the objects in the poster has previously been uploaded and described individually on Astrobin. They all reside in my
Astrobin Polar Ring Galaxies Collection.
I have not included some common galaxies, such as M82, NGC 5128, Hoag’s Object, and the Cartwheel Galaxy, that have been identified as polar ring galaxies by some sources. While multi-spin axes of rotation may have been identified for each of these galaxies, they don't appear to have the typical polar ring disk as seen in the galaxies of this poster.
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