The Rings of the Sea Monster
This week’s OOTW features Jean Tate’s OOTD posted on the 10th of November 2010.
On the 27th 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!
Galaxy Zoo 
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