Hoag’s Object
Hoag’s Object is yet another place in space that seems so unique. It is one of the few galaxies that can claim to have an actually perfect ring. It is very rare to see perfect ring galaxies in space. However, that is exactly what we see here. What is so odd is not really the perfect ring but the inner core just sitting there completely separate from the main ring itself. At first, upon being discovered it was assumed we were seeing the image and experiencing gravitational lensing. Later, that was proven incorrect. Some then naturally assumed a few galaxies must have collided to allow this inner nucleus to be present.
However, there are no signs of any second galaxy “bulleting” its way through. Other studies conducted also failed to find any galaxy fragments to confirm any collision scenario. That led some to assume that if a collision did ever occur, it must have happened at least 3 billion years ago, at minimum. Others believe it was a victim of bar instability that took place a few billion years ago in a barred spiral galaxy. No one is entirely sure of what happened, but it is still a really cool-looking galaxy to check out. It is also obviously one of the most breathtaking photos captured by NASA and the ESA.