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Stars had two axes after a festive occasion (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

galaxy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'stars' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'two axes after a festive occasion' is the wordplay.
'two axes' becomes 'xy' (x axis and y axis. I am not sure about the 'two' bit.).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a festive occasion' becomes 'gala' (I've seen this before).
'xy' put after 'gala' is 'GALAXY'.

'had' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for galaxy that I've seen before include "A lot of stars" , "many stars" , "Assemblage of stars" , "Spiral, elliptical, group of stars" , "Our solar system is contained within it" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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