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What is out of sync in NGC 4698?
The mismatch involves both shape and motion. ESA/Hubble’s image description says the central bulge extends at a right angle to the galaxy’s main disk. It also reports that “the stars and gas nearest the galaxy’s center rotate perpendicular to the rest of the disk.” NASA published that description with its September 18, 2026 account of the Hubble image.
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These observations concern the central structure and the stars and gas near the center. They do not establish that the spiral arms rotate independently from the rest of the galaxy.
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The Hubble image brought NGC 4698 into a new public spotlight, but the unusual arrangement was documented well before 2026. In a 1999 paper, Bertola and colleagues described the inner bulge as elongated perpendicular to the disk’s major axis and examined the stellar velocity pattern along the galaxy’s axes. They interpreted the geometric and kinematic decoupling as evidence for a second event in the galaxy’s formation history.
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NASA’s 2026 account places NGC 4698 in the Virgo Cluster, which it describes as containing over a thousand galaxies. The distance and cluster population provide astronomical context; neither figure measures the central rotation.
Why does NGC 4698’s center rotate perpendicular to its disk?
The available accounts do not settle the galaxy’s history. NASA says astronomers think the explanation likely involves material from outside NGC 4698: incoming gas could have formed a central disk tilted relative to the main disk. ESA/Hubble and NASA also point to observations consistent with a past minor merger, including a short stream or tail of hydrogen.
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These are proposed explanations, not a confirmed reconstruction. The hydrogen feature is described as evidence consistent with a minor merger, not proof that a particular merger occurred or that it alone produced the present structure. The cited accounts give no numerical measurement of the inner rotation angle or the hydrogen tail’s length.
What role does the central black hole play?
NASA reports signs that NGC 4698’s central black hole is actively growing and drawing gas inward. That is part of the galaxy’s current activity, but the cited accounts do not show that the black hole caused the perpendicular central rotation.
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What does the Hubble image add?
The Hubble image offers a view of NGC 4698 as part of observing programme 18103, a Virgo-galaxy programme led by principal investigator D. Thilker. The image helps present the galaxy’s striking appearance, while the earlier study provides the documented evidence about its structure and stellar motions. The image alone does not resolve which formation pathway produced the decoupling.
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