Hubble Catches a Transformation in the Virgo Constellation 9 December 2016

Hubble catches a transformation in the Virgo constellation 9 December 2016

which emerge from the galaxy's glowing core—one of the obvious features of a spiral galaxy. Within the arms, speckles of bright blue mark the locations of young stars, indicating that NGC 4388 has hosted recent bursts of star formation.

Despite the mixed messages, NGC 4388 is classified as a spiral galaxy. Its unusual combination of features is thought to have been caused by interactions between NGC 4388 and other galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Gravitational interactions—from glancing blows to head-on collisions, tidal influencing, mergers, and galactic cannibalism—can be devastating to galaxies. While some may be lucky enough to simply suffer a distorted spiral arm or newly-triggered wave of star The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is especially rich formation, others see their structure and contents in galaxies, due in part to the presence of a massive and completely and irrevocably altered. gravitationally-bound collection of over 1300 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. One particular member of this cosmic community, NGC 4388, is captured in this image, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Credit: ESA/NASA

The constellation of Virgo (The Virgin) is especially rich in galaxies, due in part to the presence of a massive and gravitationally-bound collection of over 1300 galaxies called the Virgo Cluster. One particular member of this cosmic community, NGC 4388, is captured in this image, as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

Located some 60 million light-years away, NGC 4388 is experiencing some of the less desirable effects that come with belonging to such a massive galaxy cluster. It is undergoing a transformation, and has taken on a somewhat confused identity.

While the galaxy's outskirts appear smooth and featureless, a classic feature of an elliptical galaxy, its center displays remarkable dust lanes constrained within two symmetric spiral arms,

1 / 2

APA citation: Hubble catches a transformation in the Virgo constellation (2016, December 9) retrieved 28 September 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2016-12-hubble-virgo-constellation.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

2 / 2