Hubble Captured Perpendicular Disk in NGC 4698
New imagery reveals a rare central bulge rotating at a right angle to the galaxy's disk.
Updated on Oct. 9, 2026 in Physics
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The Hubble Space Telescope has captured detailed images of galaxy NGC 4698, located 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The observations show a central bulge rotating perpendicularly to the outer galactic disk.
Why it matters
The structural anomaly suggests the galaxy underwent a minor merger, indicating that external gas arrival can force a reorientation of a galaxy's core. This provides insight into the history of galactic formation within the crowded Virgo Cluster.
NGC 4698 features a central region rotating at a right angle to its host disk. Observations also identify a hydrogen tail extending from one side and a supermassive black hole at the center with a mass millions of times that of the Sun.
The players
Hubble Space Telescope
A long-running space-based observatory that uses high-resolution optics to study galactic evolution and celestial structures.
NGC 4698
A galaxy in the Virgo Cluster featuring a unique central bulge that rotates perpendicularly to its main disk.
The details
The Hubble Space Telescope captured light from NGC 4698 to resolve the internal movement of stars and gas. Astronomers conclude the tilted central disk likely formed when external gas arrived on a trajectory offset from the host galaxy's rotation. This event points toward a minor merger, where a smaller galaxy or cloud of gas was assimilated, forcing the galaxy's core into a perpendicular alignment.
Timeline
October 9, 2026: Hubble observations were released.
The Tech Race
This finding follows a long-standing research effort to catalog unusual galactic morphologies within the Virgo Cluster. It expands our understanding of how minor mergers alter the internal dynamics of spiral galaxies compared to standard evolutionary models.
These observations clarify how complex galactic structures develop through past collisions and mass accumulation. The data serves as a foundation for further computer simulations of galaxy evolution.
The takeaway
The existence of perpendicular disks proves that galactic formation is frequently dictated by external accretion rather than isolated internal growth. Researchers will now look for similar kinematic anomalies in other galaxies located within high-density clusters.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest developments in Physics.
Source note: This article includes information reported by SciTechDaily.
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