Hubble Telescope Images Reveal Hidden Anomaly in Spiral Galaxy NGC 4698
NASA says the seemingly calm galaxy, located 55 million light-years away in Virgo, harbors what the agency describes as a "chaotic secret."
NASA has released a new image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showing NGC 4698, a spiral galaxy located approximately 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo, according to a statement from NASA Breaking News.
According to NASA, the galaxy appears serene in the image but "hides a chaotic secret," a description the agency used without elaborating further in the available material.
NASA identified NGC 4698 as one of more than a thousand galaxies belonging to the Virgo Cluster, which the agency described as the nearest large cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity.
The image was produced using Hubble's observational capabilities, though NASA's statement did not specify the particular instruments or observation dates used to capture it.
NASA did not provide additional technical details in the portion of the statement made available, including specifics on what makes the galaxy "out of sync," as referenced in the release's headline.
This report is based on an initial excerpt from NASA's statement; further details from the full release were not available at the time of publication.
Sources
- NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy — NASA Breaking News
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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