The Rings of the Sea Monster

This week’s OOTW features Jean Tate’s OOTD posted on the 10^th of November 2010.

On the 27^th of November 1880, the Mathematician and astronomer Truman Henry Stafford discovered this beautiful spiral galaxy:

It lies 151 million light years away in the constellation Cetus. It’s a spiral galaxy with its arms tightly wound so that they complete the rings you see above making it a ringed galaxy, rather than being a ring galaxy where another smaller galaxy passes through the centre, creating a ring of star formation surrounding a core much like the famous Hoag’s Object shown below.

I love the contrast between the red inner rings of older stars and the outer ring bubbling with new stars!

More information on Truman Henry Stafford here!