Hubble spots an out-of-sync galaxy
Though the spiral galaxy in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope seems serene, it hides a chaotic secret. This galaxy is NGC 4698, and it lies about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It's one of more than a thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured an unusual image of a spiral galaxy named NGC 4698, which appears serene but harbors a chaotic secret. This galaxy resides approximately 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo and is one of over a thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies held together by gravity.
As a spiral galaxy akin to our Milky Way, NGC 4698 consists of spiral arms winding around within a thin disk of stars, gas, and dust. However, unlike most spiral galaxies, the delicate arms of NGC 4698 are only visible in the outer reaches of the disk, with the spiral arms seeming to avoid the galaxy's central region. Instead, the arms cluster in a ring-like structure around the perimeter of the galaxy.
At the center of NGC 4698 lies an elongated galactic bulge, characterized by a diffuse, off-white glow emanating from smaller, older, and cooler stars than those in the galaxy's outer disk. The bulge is home to a supermassive black hole, millions of times the mass of our Sun, and is attracting gas through its gravitational pull, causing it to grow.
What sets NGC 4698 apart is its unusual configuration: the bulge is perpendicular to the starry disk, and the stars and gas nearest the galaxy's center rotate at a perpendicular angle to the rest of the disk. The source of this peculiar alignment likely stems from an external force. If NGC 4698 has gathered gas from an outside source, that gas could have formed a disk of gas and stars in the galaxy's center at an angle relative to the rest of the disk.
Some observations hint that NGC 4698 experienced a minor galactic merger in the past, evidenced by a short 'tail' of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy. Researchers are utilizing the captured data from this observing program, which focuses on galaxies within the Virgo Cluster, to study the details of these nearby galaxies and their evolution, as well as the impact of a galaxy's journey through a cluster on its ability to form new stars.
Written by urgent.news from NASA's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy science.nasa.gov
