News Astronomy

Galactic bull’s-eye came naturally

A strange cosmic object isn't the result of a galactic crash

By Camille M. Carlisle

- More than 2 years ago

A galactic oddball may have spun itself into its strange bull’s-eye shape, report astronomers probing the origins of Hoag’s Object.

GALACTIC TUTU The peculiar galaxy called Hoag’s Object, shown here in a Hubble Space Telescope image, may have created its ring all by itself. NASA, Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA

The galaxy, made up of a golden sphere of stars in the middle of a much bigger star-studded hula hoop, had once been thought to have formed as the result of a cosmic smashup.