A Hoag’s Object Lesson

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             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...

Hoag’s Object: A Strange Ring Galaxy...

Ring of Hot Blue Stars Pinwheels Around Yellow Nucleus of Hoag’s Object Galaxy, with various images...

Hoag’s Object Is a Galaxy Within a Galaxy Within a Galaxy (and Nobody Knows Why)…...

A Strange Ring Galaxy...

Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō is the single phrase by which we unite and fuse ourselves and our lives (Nam[u]) with the deepest, most encompassing dimension of reality, within and without, [Utterness of the Dharma, entirety of existence past, present and future, enlightenment and unenlightenment] (Myōhō), permeated by the inner and outer workings of all aspects of cause and effect, their interdependencies, and all their reaches, [underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect] (Renge), in its whereabouts of every possible realm or wavelength of psychological existence (Kyō).

The one phrase Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō encapsulates all of reality and the entirety of existence. It is the formula by which we call forth and access our own deepest enlightenment. And when enlightenment manifests from within, it obtains protection from without, profound and all-encompassing…

From: A writing about the teachings of Nichiren Daishōnin…

Passage from: The reason that we continually recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō…

The reason that we continually recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō

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.

Credit: NASA, R. Lucas (STScI/AURA)