ESA · Space

Galaxy NGC 4698 Spins Out of Sync

The spiral galaxy NGC 4698, located 55 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster, exhibits unusual rotational behavior where its central bulge and inner stars orbit perpendicular to the main galactic disc.

NGC 4698, similar to the Milky Way, features spiral arms, a galactic disc, and a central bulge. The bulge contains older, cooler stars, while the disc is populated by massive blue stars. A supermassive black hole at its center appears to be actively accreting gas.

Despite its typical spiral appearance, NGC 4698 is anomalous due to its bulge extending at a right angle to the disc, a feature faintly visible in Hubble images. Stars and gas near the center rotate perpendicularly to the rest of the disc.

Astronomers hypothesize that an external gas inflow or a minor galactic merger could explain this misalignment. Evidence for a past merger includes a 'tail' of hydrogen gas streaming from the galaxy.

The data for this image was collected as part of an observing program focused on galaxies within the Virgo Cluster.

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