{"id":544119,"date":"2026-09-18T23:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/uncategorized\/nasas-hubble-spots-an-out-of-sync-galaxy\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T23:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:38:12","slug":"nasas-hubble-spots-an-out-of-sync-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=544119","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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3 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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The spiral galaxy NGC 4698 shines in this image from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.<\/div>\n
ESA\/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, the MAUVE-HST Team<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Though the spiral galaxy in this new image from the NASA\/ESA\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>\u00a0seems serene, it hides a chaotic secret. This galaxy is NGC 4698, and it lies about 55 million light-years away in the constellation\u00a0Virgo. It\u2019s one of over a thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0spiral galaxy\u00a0similar to our own Milky Way galaxy, NGC 4698 has spiral arms that curl around within a thin disk of stars, gas, and dust. These arms are marked by opaque clumps of brown dust and dotted with small collections of bright blue stars. Unlike many other spiral galaxies, like\u00a0this one recently photographed by Hubble<\/a>, NGC 4698\u2019s delicate spiral arms are only prominent in the outer reaches of the disk; spiral arms often wind down to the very center of a galaxy, but NGC 4698\u2019s spiral arms appear to shy away from its glowing center. The arms instead hover in a ring-like structure around the perimeter of the galaxy.<\/p>\n

NGC 4698\u2019s center is dominated\u00a0by an elongated galactic bulge\u00a0. The diffuse off-white glow of the galaxy\u2019s bulge comes from stars smaller, older, and cooler than the massive blue stars that dot the galaxy\u2019s outer disk. These tightly packed stars orbit a supermassive\u00a0black hole\u00a0containing millions of times the Sun\u2019s mass. Scientists have found signs that this black hole is actively growing, drawing gas inward with its gravitational pull.<\/p>\n

With a flat, starry disk and diffusely glowing center, NGC 4698 looks a lot like a typical spiral galaxy \u2014 but this galaxy is far from normal. NGC 4698 is one of only a few known spiral galaxies\u00a0with a bulge that extends out from the disk at a right angle. The elongation is faintly visible in this Hubble image, which shows the ghostly glow of the starry bulge peeking above and below the dusty disk. What\u2019s more, the stars and gas nearest the galaxy\u2019s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disk!<\/p>\n

What could cause a galaxy to be so out of sync? Astronomers have found that the culprit likely lies outside the galaxy. If NGC 4698 funneled in gas from an outside source, the newly collected gas could have formed a disk of gas and stars in the galaxy\u2019s center, at an angle relative to the rest of the disk. Some observations suggest that this galaxy once experienced a minor galactic merger, as evidenced by a short \u2018tail\u2019 of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy.<\/p>\n

The data used to create this image come from an observing program focusing on galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. This program zooms in on the details of these relatively nearby galaxies, such as individual star clusters and nebulae. At the same time, researchers will use these data to take stock of the larger picture, learning how a galaxy\u2019s journey through a cluster affects the galaxy\u2019s evolution and ability to form new stars.<\/p>\n

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Text credit: ESA\/Hubble<\/p>\n

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Media Contact<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Claire Andreoli<\/strong>
NASA\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Greenbelt, MD<\/strong>
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n