At first glance, NGC 4698 looks like a graceful spiral galaxy. Hubble’s view reveals a stranger arrangement: its central bulge lies at roughly right angles to the surrounding disk.
The galaxy is about 55 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster. Older stars dominate the central region, while bluer stars decorate the outer arms. Those arms have a ring-like appearance, adding to the galaxy’s distinctive shape.
The mismatch is more than a visual curiosity. Stars and gas near the centre also rotate perpendicular to the main disk. NGC 4698 contains an active central black hole with a mass of millions of Suns. Together, these features make it a useful target for studying how galaxies acquire their structure and how different regions can preserve different histories.
Source: NASA report (2026-09-18).
