The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged NGC 4698, a spiral galaxy about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy belongs to the Virgo Cluster, which contains more than 1,000 gravitationally bound galaxies. Its spiral arms are concentrated in the outer disk rather than winding toward the center [nasa.gov][phys.org][esa.int]. NGC 4698 has an elongated central bulge oriented at a right angle to its stellar disk, a configuration seen in only a few known spiral galaxies. Its center also contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of millions of suns, and scientists have found signs that it is actively drawing in gas [nasa.gov][esa.int]. Highlights: • Stellar populations: The central bulge appears diffuse and pale because it contains smaller, older, cooler stars [nasa.gov][esa.int]. • Galaxy structure: NGC 4698’s spiral arms curl within a thin disk of stars, gas, and dust [nasa.gov][esa.int]. • Galaxy comparison: NGC 4698 broadly resembles the Milky Way because both are spiral galaxies with disks, arms, and central bulges [nasa.gov]. Sources: • NASA’s Hubble Spots an Out-of-Sync Galaxy - nasa.gov • Hubble spots an out-of-sync galaxy - phys.org • Hubble spots an out-of-sync galaxy - Phys.org - google.com • A galaxy spinning out of sync - European Space Agency - google.com • A galaxy spinning out of sync - esa.int --- 📰 Story aggregated by Kagi News