Galaxy NGC 4632, as we have seen it historically, is simply a spiral galaxy situated not far from our own. However now, using more sophisticated telescopes and imaging techniques we’re getting a look at it like never before and it’s actually surprising scientists.
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00:00 This is galaxy NGC 4632, as we have seen it historically, a spiral galaxy situated not
00:10 far from our own.
00:11 However, now using more sophisticated telescopes and imaging techniques, we're getting a look
00:16 at it like never before, and what they've found has actually surprised scientists.
00:20 This is the most recent image of the galaxy, a composite of both radio and optical telescopic
00:25 images, and it is revealed that the entire thing is circled by an absolutely massive
00:30 ring of gas.
00:31 The ring went undetected for so long because it's invisible on the electromagnetic spectrum,
00:36 or how astronomers were primarily imaging the galaxy previously.
00:39 The discovery also means the rather common spiral galaxy isn't so common at all.
00:44 It's actually now classified as an extremely rare polar ring galaxy.
00:48 Polar ring galaxies are marked by a surrounding ring of cosmic debris, including dust, gas,
00:53 and even stars, usually found around its poles.
00:56 But this find also means that these types of galaxies might be more common, we just
01:00 haven't noticed them yet.
01:01 With one of the researchers saying about it, quote, "The findings suggest that 1 to 3%
01:05 of nearby galaxies may have gaseous polar rings, which is much higher than suggested
01:09 by optical telescopes.
01:11 Astronomers have only detected polar rings around 0.5% of nearby galaxies."
01:16 - Dr. J.K.
01:17 DeBakey, Ph.D.
01:18 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology