Credit: ESA/Hubble & 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 centre displays remarkable dust lanes constrained within two
symmetric spiral arms, 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 are thought to have been caused by
interactions between NGC 4388 and 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 formation, others see their structure and contents completely and irrevocably altered.
Source: ESA/Hubble/images
