NASA has released a spectacular image from the Hubble Space Telescope showing a nearly perfect ring of hot, blue stars surrounding the yellow nucleus of the unusual galaxy known as Hoag's Object. The entire ring is about 120,000 light years across, slightly larger than our Milky Way galaxy. The blue ring, which is dominated by clusters of young, massive stars, contrasts sharply with the yellow nucleus of mostly older stars. What appears to be a "gap" separating the two may contain some star clusters that are almost too faint to see.
Source: Flight International