Don't be square; be a square ring galaxy!

[Ann]

Have you ever seen a square ring galaxy? No? Take a look here:

So what is that thing? Well, it's a square ring galaxy! So how did it get that way? I wish I knew!

Does anyone out there have an inkling?

https://esahubble.org/images/heic2112a/

Ann

[Chris Peterson]

Have you ever seen a square ring galaxy? No? Take a look here:

Square ring galaxy near CW Leonis ESA Hubble.png

So what is that thing? Well, it's a square ring galaxy! So how did it get that way? I wish I knew!

Does anyone out there have an inkling?

https://esahubble.org/images/heic2112a/

Ann

Given that a ring galaxy is likely just a perturbed spiral, it seems reasonable to me that the "ring" part could assume a range of shapes, depending upon the number and the structure of spiral arms prior to the disturbance (particularly if we're seeing it somewhat early in its transition).

[neufer]

Have you ever seen a square ring galaxy? No? Take a look here:

So what is that thing? Well, it's a square ring galaxy! So how did it get that way? I wish I knew!

Does anyone out there have an inkling?

<<inkling (n.) c. 1400, apparently from the gerund of the Middle English verb inclen "utter in an undertone, hint at, hint" (mid-14c.), which is of unknown origin; perhaps it is related to Old English inca "doubt, suspicion, question, scruple." However the earliest record of the word is as a nyngkiling; and The Middle English Compendium offers that this suggests the word is a nasalized variant of nikking "a hint, slight indication," gerundive of the Middle English verb nikken "to mark (a text) for correction" (mid-15c.).>>

<<Carbon inks were commonly made from lampblack or soot and a binding agent such as gum arabic or animal glue. The binding agent keeps carbon particles in suspension and adhered to paper. Carbon particles do not fade over time even when bleached or when in sunlight.>>

<<The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction and encouraged the writing of fantasy. The best-known, apart from Tolkien, were C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams.>>

CW Leonis is "a sooty runaway carbon star, plowing through the depths of space and piling up interstellar material before it".

Perhaps this is a neighboring star that got slimed.

CW Leonis ultraviolet image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer

---

<<A runaway star, plowing through the depths of space and piling up interstellar material before it, can be seen in this ultraviolet image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The star, called CW Leonis, is hurtling through space at about 91 kilometers per second. It is shedding its own atmosphere to form a sooty shell of discarded material. This shell can be seen in the center of this image as a bright circular blob. CW Leonis is moving from right to left in this image. It is travelling so quickly through the surrounding material that it has formed a semi-circular bow shock in front of itself, like a boat moving through water. This bow shock is made of superheated gas, which flows around the star and is left behind in its turbulent wake. This blown-out bubble is 2.7 light-years across, which is more than half the distance from our sun to the nearest star, or 2,100 times the size of Pluto's orbit. The size of the bubble (called the "astrosheath") has allowed astronomers to estimate that CW Leonis has been shedding its atmosphere for about 70,000 years. This is part of the star's natural life cycle as it runs out of hydrogen fuel and gradually throws off its outer layers to expose its bare, dying core. This core is called a white dwarf, and is the end product of all low-mass stars like our sun. CW Leonis is the second runaway star to be observed with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The first, Mira, was observed by the telescope back in 2006. This image is the combination of near-ultraviolet data, shown in yellow, and far-ultraviolet data, shown in blue.>>

[Fred the Cat]

Rectangular shapes are rare. Good find Ann.