Astronomers using the 8.2-meter Japanese Subaru optical telescope, which is located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the volcano of the same name in Hawaii, obtained an image of the galaxy NGC 660, which has a polar ring.
The galaxy NGC 660 is located 45 million light years from Earth.
Its main feature is an elongated annular structure that surrounds the disk at an almost right angle. Moreover, the diameter of the disk, which is 50 thousand light years, is larger than the diameter of the galaxy itself.
Astronomers believe that NGC 660 acquired the ring about a billion years ago when it collided with another galaxy and captured its material. Over time, that material formed a ring.
