Be careful: if you stare at this galaxy for too long you might end up hypnotized.
This new image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the Messier 88 (M88) galaxy, also known as NGC 4501, in all of its swirling glory.
What is it?
M88 is an active galaxy, meaning at its center is a supermassive black hole whose inescapable gravity pulls in enormous amounts of gas and dust from surrounding space. It is also a spiral galaxy, meaning it has spiral “arms” that reach out from its center, which is clear from this spiraling, swirling image.
The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster, a cluster of over 1,000 galaxies in the Virgo constellation. M88 can also be found roughly 63 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, or “Berenice’s Hair.”
Why is it incredible?
Astronomers captured this image while observing M88 as part of a larger investigation into spiral galaxies and how they operate in different environments, according to a statement. This work was done using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, which can see tens of millions of light-years into the universe while still managing to capture incredible details of objects like M88.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been looking out at the cosmos since 1990. For over 36 years, the space telescope has truly opened our eyes to the cosmos, showing the far reaches of our universe in spectacular detail that we had only previously dreamed of.
While the James Webb Space Telescope and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope serve unique purposes to expand our understanding of the universe, Hubble remains an incredibly powerful tool to look beyond what we know and explore what we hope to understand.