NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy - NASA Science

3 min read NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy Elizabeth Tammi Sep 18, 2026 Article The spiral galaxy NGC 4698 shines in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, the MAUVE-HST Team 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 over a thousand galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity. As a spiral galaxy similar 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 this one recently photographed by Hubble, NGC 4698’s 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’s 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. NGC 4698’s center is dominated by an elongated galactic bulge. The diffuse off-white glow of the galaxy’s bulge comes from stars smaller, older, and cooler than the massive blue stars that dot the galaxy’s outer disk. These tightly packed stars orbit a supermassive black hole containing millions of times the Sun’s mass. Scientists have found signs that this black hole is actively growing, drawing gas inward with its gravitational pull. With a flat, starry disk and diffusely glowing center, NGC 4698 looks a lot like a typical spiral galaxy — but this galaxy is far from normal. NGC 4698 is one of only a few known spiral galaxies with 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’s more, the stars and gas nearest the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disk! 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’s 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 ‘tail’ of hydrogen streaming from one side of the galaxy. 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’s journey through a cluster affects the galaxy’s evolution and ability to form new stars. Text credit: ESA/Hubble Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Explore More Hubble's Galaxies Our galaxy, the Milky Way, sits in a Local Group of more than 20 galaxies, but Hubble’s vision takes us far beyond our celestial neighborhood. Discover how Hubble's studies have transformed our understanding of galaxies near and far. Hubble Focus: Galaxies through Space and Time Explore the history of galaxies through Hubble's gaze in this free, downloadable e-book. Spectacular Hubble images and videos bring home the discoveries that have expanded our understanding of galaxies, how they formed, and what they contain. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble’s Beautiful Universe Hubble Science Operations Hubble Mission Operations — Company newsroom — sourced from NASA. Matter furnished by the company. Not a Notice Nearby paid placement. This page reprints matter furnished by the company from its official newsroom. Notice Nearby did not write this release. Read the original: https://science.nasa.gov/uncategorized/nasas-hubble-spots-an-out-of-sync-galaxy