Eye in an Eye
by CritterKeeper on Feb.05, 2010, under Eyes in the Sky
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Hot, blue stars form a halo around the yellow center of a galaxy known as Hoag’s Object. From Earth, we view this odd galaxy face-on in this image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
The ring of young, massive stars stretches about 120,000 light-years across; slightly larger than our Milky Way Galaxy. The ring may be the result of new star formation caused when one galaxy zoomed through the other. Scientists don’t see a second galaxy that could be responsible. Another idea is that the ring is the shredded remains of a galaxy that encountered the older yellow galaxy in the center. Astronomers believe this encounter took place two to three billion years ago.
Explore the the billions of stars that make up this galaxy. The halo consists of blue stars grouped together in giant clusters. They are recently born out of huge clouds of gas and dust. These massive, new stars won’t live long. Within a couple million years they will start to explode in supernova brighter than the entire galaxy. The gap in the center may not be entirely empty. Faint star clusters or individual stars may be sprinkled lightly in this area. Can you pick out distant spiral galaxies and another ring galaxy shining through this area?
Light from Hoag’s Object has traveled a long time to reach Earth, taking nearly 600 million light-years to reach us. This unusual ring galaxy is found in the constellation Serpens, the Serpent. It is named after Arthur Allen Hoag who discovered it in 1950. Hoag believed it to be either a planetary nebula or a peculiar galaxy.
:Hoag's Object, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, ring galaxy, Serpens
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Thanks for dropping by! This site combines incredible imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and other great observatories with the imagination of children. Explore and share the patterns you see in the nebula, galaxies and star clusters.Note to Parents and Educators:
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