This object is a collisional ring galaxy system located 400 million light years away in the constellation of Hercules at a declination of +42 degrees. This galaxy spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view, which corresponds to an actual diameter of 110,000 light years.
As odd looking as this object is, it is amazing to me that it looks so much like
Arp 142.
So, what are we looking at? My research turned up nothing on this object, at least nothing that made sense to me. Some sources want to create multiple galaxies out of each of the two objects at the center of the image. My view is that this is simply a typical collisional ring galaxy system, the same as Arp 142. The upper object (PGC 58664) is the host galaxy, which was impacted by the smaller elliptical galaxy below (PGC 58674). The gravitational interaction distorted the upper galaxy into a ring, which just like Arp 142 is not quite closed. The bright yellow area is the core and the other blue areas are star clusters. The galaxy below is not a triple galaxy system but just the core with 2 superimposed stars.
Collisional ring galaxy systems are some of the most interesting objects in my opinion. For more of these, see my collection of
collisional ring galaxy systems.
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