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UGC 4599: A Photometric Study of the Nearest Hoag-Type Ring Galaxy

We present a photometric study of UGC 4599, a low-luminosity galaxy superficially resembling Hoag's Object in that on sky survey images it appears to be a complete ring surrounding a roundish core. The nature of the outer ring of Hoag-type galaxies is still debated and may be related either to slow secular evolution or to environmental processes, such as galaxy-galaxy interactions. we show that in UGC 4599 (a) the nearly round central body follows well an r^1/4 light profile almost all the way to the centre, (b) the isophotes are strongly twisted with a sharp 45 deg transition at a radius of r~6 arcsec, (c) the blue ring seems to have reached near-equilibrium configuration with the central body, (d) the ring is actually composed of a one-and-a-half turn spiral feature, and (e) one side of the spiral shows conspicuous star formation in the form of at least nine HII regions, revealed by their H_alpha emission. Based on the photometric data, together with HI information from the literature, we characterize UGC 4599 as an elliptical-like object surrounded by a luminous ring and a massive, extremely extended HI disc. Given its observed properties, we rule out UGC 4599 as representing a late phase in barred early-type galaxies evolution. We discuss the origin of UGC 4599 and conclude that this galaxy could be the result of a major interaction between two gas-rich spiral galaxies that took place at least 5 Gyr ago. However, deep optical imaging and a detailed stellar population analysis are required to determine whether the large gas reservoir could have been accreted directly from the intergalactic medium onto a pre-existing elliptical galaxy in the early Universe. A detailed kinematical study will shed light on the exact nature of the central body and the ring of UGC 4599.