<p>It would perhaps be less impressive than you imagine, and not much different from how any spiral galaxy would look from near the centre.</p>

<p>The many stars near the centre would mean that there were lots of foreground stars and dust near the centre would obscure parts of the ring. The stars of the bulge would mean the whole sky was filled with star fields.  </p>

<p>The ring itself would be distant and so quite dim, it would look like a "milky way", but without a central bulge. So it might look something like the milky way in Auriga. Nice, but not especially dramatic.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T18:02:28.253Z
2018-11-28T18:02:28.253Z
James K
<p>If there were an observer on a planet in the centre of a ring galaxy (omitting the galactic core) what could they expect to see in their night sky? I am currently under the impression that their night sky would be divided by a dense band of stars stretching across the celestial sphere, similar to the milky band of our sky - though to a greater extent. But is there any reason this wouldn't be the case? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T20:27:56.777Z
On  **my** home planet,  near the center of a ring galaxy far, far away, the night sky is pretty bright because we have 5 large moons and it's very rare not to have a couple in gibbous or full phase.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T23:40:46.923Z
Do you mean in the mostly empty area of the galactic barycentre, or do you mean in the centre of the *ring*?
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-28T23:48:14.777Z
From Earth we see a concentrated band towards the galactic centre and a thin band when looking in the opposite direction. If we were in the relative void near the barycentre of a ring galaxy the band would look thin but mostly uniform, but there would be few bright stars in the sky since the stellar neighbourhood would be mostly empty.
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
<galaxy><observational-astronomy><night-sky>
What would the night sky look like from a planet at the centre of a ring galaxy?
Rosenthel
# What would the night sky look like from a planet at the centre of a ring galaxy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-28)

If there were an observer on a planet in the centre of a ring galaxy (omitting the galactic core) what could they expect to see in their night sky? I am currently under the impression that their night sky would be divided by a dense band of stars stretching across the celestial sphere, similar to the milky band of our sky - though to a greater extent. But is there any reason this wouldn't be the case?

**Tags:** galaxy, observational-astronomy, night-sky

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: On  **my** home planet,  near the center of a ring galaxy far, far away, the night sky is pretty bright because we have 5 large moons and it's very rare not to have a couple in gibbous or full phase.  
> **username_2**: Do you mean in the mostly empty area of the galactic barycentre, or do you mean in the centre of the *ring*?  
> **username_2**: From Earth we see a concentrated band towards the galactic centre and a thin band when looking in the opposite direction. If we were in the relative void near the barycentre of a ring galaxy the band would look thin but mostly uniform, but there would be few bright stars in the sky since the stellar neighbourhood would be mostly empty.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

It would perhaps be less impressive than you imagine, and not much different from how any spiral galaxy would look from near the centre.

The many stars near the centre would mean that there were lots of foreground stars and dust near the centre would obscure parts of the ring. The stars of the bulge would mean the whole sky was filled with star fields.

The ring itself would be distant and so quite dim, it would look like a "milky way", but without a central bulge. So it might look something like the milky way in Auriga. Nice, but not especially dramatic.


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