... But it is known to be one of the nearest stars, only 15 light-years distant. NGC 4650A: Strange Galaxy and Dark Matter . ... The complex system seems to have at least two parts, a flattened disk of stars with a dense, bright, central core and a sparse, sharply tilted ring of gas, dust and stars. ... Although the disk might appear as a relatively tame "hubcap in space", the unusual center of elliptical galaxy NGC 7052 is probably the remnant of a titanic collision between galaxies. ...