This ‘polar ring’ galaxy looks like an eye. Others might be hiding in plain sight

It’s big. It’s beautiful. It looks a bit like a sparkly, starry, slightly smooshed Eye of Sauron.

It’s the galaxy NGC 4632, and new radio telescope images suggest that it sports a rare “polar ring” — a halo of mostly hydrogen gas tilted about 90 degrees from the plane of the galaxy’s disk.

These spectacular structures, which can also contain dust and stars, are thought to encircle only about 1 in 1,000 galaxies. But now it seems that many more — possibly 30 times as many — could be hiding in plain sight, researchers report in the November Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

.email-conversion {

→ Continue reading at Science News

More from author

Related posts

Advertisment

Latest posts

5 Financial Moves to Make While Interest Rates Are High

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The Federal Reserve's most recent rate hike took the federal funds rate to a...

After a 2-year delay, deliveries of Tesla’s Cybertruck are scheduled to start Thursday

Enlarge this image Tesla's Cybertruck, pictured here during its design reveal...

Free Webinar | December 6: 5 Game-Changing Digital Marketing Trends to Watch for 2024

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, entrepreneurs must adapt to new trends to enhance their businesses and connect effectively with their target audiences.On December...