The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged NGC 4698, a spiral galaxy about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Although its outer structure resembles the Milky Way, the galaxy has an unusual central bulge extending at a right angle to its thin disk. Stars and gas near the center also rotate perpendicular to the rest of the galaxy, making NGC 4698 one of only a few known spiral galaxies with this configuration.
Astronomers suggest that gas captured from outside the galaxy may have formed the tilted central disk. Observations also point to a possible minor galactic merger, including a short stream of hydrogen extending from one side. The central stars orbit a growing supermassive black hole containing millions of solar masses. The image comes from an Hubble program studying galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/09/A_galaxy_spinning_out_of_sync
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2026-09-18 08:55:28 UTC
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"content": "The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged NGC 4698, a spiral galaxy about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Although its outer structure resembles the Milky Way, the galaxy has an unusual central bulge extending at a right angle to its thin disk. Stars and gas near the center also rotate perpendicular to the rest of the galaxy, making NGC 4698 one of only a few known spiral galaxies with this configuration.\n\nAstronomers suggest that gas captured from outside the galaxy may have formed the tilted central disk. Observations also point to a possible minor galactic merger, including a short stream of hydrogen extending from one side. The central stars orbit a growing supermassive black hole containing millions of solar masses. The image comes from an Hubble program studying galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.\n\nhttps://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/09/A_galaxy_spinning_out_of_sync",
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