The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a detailed image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4698, located approximately 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, and a member of the Virgo Cluster galaxy group.
This galaxy displays spiral arms mainly visible at its periphery, forming a ring-like structure around the center, unlike most spiral galaxies where the arms wind all the way to the core.
The center of NGC 4698 is dominated by an elongated galactic bulge that extends perpendicular to the galaxy’s main disk, a rare feature among spiral galaxies. This bulge emits a white glow from smaller, older, and cooler stars than those in the outer spiral arms.
The stars and gas near the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disk, indicating an unusual misalignment in NGC 4698’s internal dynamics.
Scientists believe this configuration could result from the accretion of external gas forming an inclined central disk or from a minor galactic merger, supported by the presence of a hydrogen tail observed on one side of the galaxy.
At the heart of NGC 4698 lies a supermassive black hole, with a mass several million times that of the Sun, which appears to be actively growing by accreting surrounding gas.
These observations come from a targeted program studying galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, enabling detailed examination of the structure and dynamics of nearby galaxies.
