A Hoag’s Object Lesson
by Harley White
- Published: Monday, December 30 2019 20:55
This rare cosmic rendering in review
a galaxy nucleus shows
with a circular ring of young stars blue
that around the gold center goes.
Hoag, the discoverer, gave it his name,
now in astro-records installed,
and the object conferred his claim to fame,
though also technically called.
Categorized as atypical ring
it spreads in width of full display
a hundred twenty thousand light-year swing,
somewhat bigger than Milky Way.
The stellar orbs in the red-yellow sphere
of Hubble’s symmetrical scene
have hues which make them much older appear,
while the dark-looking gap between
lends even more mystery to the whole
already puzzling to explain,
with its elements seeming to unroll
in manner that boggles the brain.
At one o’clock place in the space could be
another one like it behind
resembling that galaxy, strange to see—
all told, an exceptional find!
Serpens Constellation in northern skies
six hundred million light-years out
is where enigmatic Hoag’s Object lies
which stuns stargazers hereabout.
This lazuline world that humans call home
is with myriad marvels graced
having sapphire seas neath an azure dome
with emerald groves interlaced.
High mountainous peaks paint the earth in streaks.
Life abounds in its every guise.
All the wonders are here that mankind seeks,
if only we’d open our eyes!
But I have permitted myself to stray
from the Object’s crux to be solved,
as astro-science continues to weigh
theories of how it evolved.
An ‘object lesson’ is a method used
as an educational aid
preventing people from getting confused
through concrete example portrayed,
such as in the case of concepts abstract
sensorially recognized
beyond what’s observed as objective fact,
so both head and heart are apprized.
What principle can Hoag’s Object impart
with formation our grasp defies?
For no matter how well-informed or smart,
we need an approach to be wise.
Perhaps the galactic structure could teach
or serve as cautionary tale
not to rush to judgments or overreach
lest faulty perceptions prevail.
Said Seneca many a moon ago
in a philosophical quote
that addresses what now we do not know,
midst the numerous words he wrote,
‘The day will arrive when are brought to light,’
by versification rephrased,
‘perplexities which were hidden from sight,
with later descendants amazed
‘that with research things which to them are clear
could have stymied those in the past.
For a lifespan entire applied to sheer
study of a subject as vast
‘as the sky would not have sufficient time,
and thus to the ages ahead
must be left, far from our reason and rhyme,
when remembrance of us is dead.’
So let the astronomers be at ease
that there’s much more to comprehend
regarding Hoag’s Object, for by degrees
the knowledge will come in the end…
And cosmic awareness shall be the fate
for the seekers who dare to yearn
to pursue the path with the purpose great
of reality’s truth to learn.
~ Harley White
* * * * * * * * *
Some sources of inspiration were the following…
“The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden. A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject… And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages. There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them… Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.”
~ Seneca, from ‘Natural Questions’ (Naturales quaestiones), written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 65 CE…
A Wheel within a Wheel…
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo0221a/
Hoag’s Object: A Strange Ring Galaxy…
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130728.html
Ring of Hot Blue Stars Pinwheels Around Yellow Nucleus of Hoag’s Object Galaxy, with various images…
https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2002/21/1241-Image.html
Hoag’s Object Is a Galaxy Within a Galaxy Within a Galaxy (and Nobody Knows Why)…
https://www.livescience.com/hoags-object-perfect-ring-mystery.html?fbclid=IwAR1vrWI5s2aYVimG6BUyUwMnz1NAd9AwukZpmF9WfG9x-DtJEFGfFmxxk8Q
A Strange Ring Galaxy…
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1747.html
Image explanation: A nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars pinwheels about the yellow nucleus of an unusual galaxy known as Hoag’s Object. This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures a face-on view of the galaxy’s ring of stars, revealing more detail than any existing photo of this object. In 1950 astronomer Art Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are likely much older. Between the two is a gap that appears almost completely dark. How Hoag’s Object formed remains unknown, although similar objects have now been identified and collectively labeled as a form of ring galaxy. Genesis hypotheses include a galaxy collision billions of years ago and the gravitational effect of a central bar that has since vanished. Coincidentally, visible in the gap (at about one o’clock) is yet another ring galaxy that likely lies far in the distance.
Image Credit: NASA, R. Lucas (STScI/AURA)
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