A new Hubble image highlights the intricacies of a distant galaxy glowing with a bright-white core surrounded by complex dust structures. The image captures the sharpest view yet of the lenticular galaxy NGC 4753. The photo offers a nearly edge-on view of the galaxy, revealing its bright central bulge. Lenticular galaxies are a cross between spirals and ellipticals – they exhibit an elliptical shape but have ill-defined spiral arms. Given NGC 4753’s low-density environment and complex structure, this particular galaxy provides astronomers an opportunity to study different theories surrounding how lenticular galaxies form.
The galaxy, located roughly 60 million light years from Earth, is situated within the Virgo II Cloud, which hosts a group of roughly 100 galaxies and galaxy clusters. It was first discovered by the astronomer William Herschel in 1784. NGC 4753 is believed to be the product of a galactic merger between a larger galaxy and a nearby dwarf companion roughly 1.3 billion years ago. As the galaxies approached each other, the larger galaxy’s strong gravitational forces likely pulled in stars, gas and dust from its smaller neighbour, resulting in the warped elliptical shape and distinct dust lanes observed today.