Featured in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is a nearly edge-on view of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. These galaxies have an elliptical shape and ill-defined spiral arms.
This image is the object's sharpest view to date, showcasing Hubble’s
incredible resolving power and ability to reveal complex dust
structures. NGC 4753 resides around 60 million light-years from Earth in
the constellation Virgo and was first discovered by the astronomer
William Herschel in 1784. It is a member of the NGC 4753 Group of
galaxies within the Virgo II Cloud, which comprises roughly 100 galaxies
and galaxy clusters.
This galaxy is believed to be the result of a galactic merger with a
nearby dwarf galaxy roughly 1.3 billion years ago. NGC 4753’s distinct
dust lanes around its nucleus are believed to have been accreted from
this merger event.
It is now believed that most of the mass in the galaxy lies in a slightly flattened spherical halo of dark matter. Dark matter is a form of matter that cannot currently be observed directly, but is
thought to comprise about 85% of all matter in the Universe. It is
referred to as ‘dark’ because it does not appear to interact with the
electromagnetic field, and therefore does not seem to emit, reflect or
refract light.
This object is also of scientific interest to test different theories
of formation of lenticular galaxies, given its low-density environment
and complex structure. Furthermore, this galaxy has been host to two
known Type Ia supernovae. These types of supernovae are extremely
important as they are all caused by exploding white dwarfs which have
companion stars, and always peak at the same brightness — 5 billion
times brighter than the Sun. Knowing the true brightness of these
events, and comparing this with their apparent brightness, gives
astronomers a unique chance to measure distances in the Universe.
