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NGC 4694, a galaxy 54 million light-years away in the Virgo cluster, is not easy to classify. The galaxy, which has characteristics of both spiral and elliptical galaxies,
NGC 4694, a galaxy 54 million light-years away in the Virgo cluster, is not easy to classify. The galaxy, which has characteristics of both spiral and elliptical galaxies, is actively forming stars despite its armless disk. It is connected to the dwarf galaxy by a hydrogen bridge, indicating a history of violent collisions and further complicating its classification.
Galaxies generally belong to one of two main types that are easy to distinguish. Spiral galaxies are young and energetic, filled with the gas needed to form new stars, and have spiral arms that host hot, bright stars. Elliptical galaxies have a much more pedestrian appearance; Their light comes from a homogeneous population of older, redder stars.
However, understanding other galaxies requires close study: this is the case for galaxy NGC 4694, located 54 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo cluster and the subject of the Hubble Image of the Week.
As an elliptical galaxy, NGC 4694 has a smooth-looking, armless disk that is virtually devoid of star formation. However, its stellar population is still relatively young and new stars are still actively forming in its core, increasing the brightness we see in this image and giving it a star profile quite different from a classical elliptical galaxy.
The galaxy is also filled with the types of gas and dust typically seen in a young, active spiral; Elliptical galaxies often contain significant amounts of dust, but not the gas necessary for new stars to form. NGC 4694 is surrounded by a huge cloud of invisible hydrogen, which fuels star formation. This stellar activity is the reason for Hubble’s observations here.
As this Hubble image shows, dust in this galaxy forms chaotic patterns that suggest some sort of confusion. It turns out that the cloud of hydrogen gas around NGC 4694 forms a long bridge to a nearby faint dwarf galaxy called VCC 2062. The two galaxies collided violently, and the larger NGC 4694 is collecting gas from the smaller galaxy.
NGC 4694 is classified as a lenticular galaxy because of its peculiar shape and star-forming activity: it lacks prominent spiral arms, but is not as degassed as an elliptical galaxy and still has a galactic bulge and disk. It is not so easy to assign some galaxies to one type or another!
Source: Port Altele
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