Monoceros-Ring

The Monoceros Ring, named after the constellation of the Unicorn, is a structure made ​​up of millions of stars, extending annularly around the Milky Way and several times: winds around the Milky Way Galaxy. Some sources say that the ring winds three times around the galaxy.

Astronomical context

The origin of the phenomenon is not fully understood, but is usually associated with the Canis Major dwarf galaxy. According to this thesis is the ring of stellar material that has come out of the Canis Major dwarf galaxy during its merger with our home galaxy by the action of tidal forces. The complex ring structure is developed over a period of several hundred million years.

Other astronomers assume, however, that both the " ring " and the Canis Major system only widely distributed regions of the "Thick Disk" are the galactic disk.