Astronomers have discovered a rare 'polar ring galaxy' wrapped in a huge ribbon of hydrogen

By Baerbel Koribalski, Senior research scientist, CSIRO

Galaxies come in many shapes and sizes, from giant, slowly rotating ovals and fast-whirling spiral disks to faint ball-shaped blobs and dwarf irregulars. Most large, bright galaxies – including our own Milky Way – are orbited by a gang of much smaller dwarf galaxies.

Most of this we know from optical images, whether taken with small backyard telescopes or much bigger dedicated ground- and space-based telescopes that reveal the light from billions of distant suns. However, as we are discovering, what happens beyond the bright disk of stars may be even more interesting.

With…

Read complete article

~	‘Peace be with all of you’: how Pope Leo XIV embodies a living dialogue between tradition and modernity

~	Google is rolling out its Gemini AI chatbot to kids under 13. It’s a risky move

~	What is grounding and could it improve my sleep? Here’s the science behind this TikTok trend

~	Feminist reformer Beatrice Faust was a sexual libertarian who did her homework, kept her cool and criticised ‘wimp feminism’

~	What’s the difference between probiotics and prebiotics? A dietitian explains

~	Pope Leo XIV: Why the College of Cardinals chose the Chicago native and Augustinian to lead the church after Francis

~	View from The Hill: two ministers and the Nationals discover the limits of loyalty in politics

~	What will the Antichrist look like? According to Western thought, an authoritarian king – or the pope

~	Labor has promised to tackle homelessness. Here’s what homeless people say they need

~	Hidden connections of more than 100 migratory marine species revealed in interactive map