A Star Forming Disk in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 5173

We report the discovery of blue condensations in the exceptionally gas-rich elliptical galaxy NGC 5173. The condensations represent about one percent of the total blue light of the galaxy and have luminosities, sizes, and colors typical of giant H II regions. They appear to be distributed in an off-centered disk that coincides with the neutral hydrogen disk rather than the optical light of the galaxy. The distribution is most suggestive of two tightly wound spiral arms with a radial extent of 3.5 to 9.5 kpc. This is the first time that giant blue condensations on such a large scale have been found in an elliptical galaxy