NGC 4753’s prominent and complex network of dust lanes that twist around its galactic nucleus define its ‘peculiar’ classification and are the likely result of a galactic merger with a nearby dwarf galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago.
NGC 4753 is a lenticular galaxy located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
Otherwise known as LEDA 43671, UGC 8009 or IRAS 12498-0055, the galaxy was discovered by the German-born British astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784.
NGC 4753 is a member of the NGC 4753 group of galaxies within the Virgo II Cloud, a series of at least 100 galaxy clusters and individual galaxies stretching off the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.
“An astounding number of galaxies populate the observable Universe, with recent estimates placing that number anywhere from 100 billion to 2 trillion,” the Gemini astronomers said in a statement.
“And, akin to snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. But depending on their visual appearance and physical features they can be divided into four broad classes: elliptical, lenticular, irregular and spiral, with many subclasses in between.”
“However, galaxies are dynamic objects that evolve over time as they interact with their surrounding environment, meaning that an individual galaxy may fall under multiple classifications throughout its lifetime.”
In 1992, Indiana University astronomer Tom Steiman-Cameron and his colleagues published a detailed study of NGC 4753 in which they found that its complicated shape is likely the result of a merger with a small companion galaxy.
“Galaxies that gobble up another galaxy often look like train wrecks, and this is a train-wreck galaxy,” Dr. Steiman-Cameron said.
Galaxy mergers occur when two or more galaxies collide, causing their material to mix and significantly altering the shape and behavior of each galaxy involved
In the case of NGC 4753, it is thought that the once standard lenticular galaxy merged with a…
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