NASA's Hubble captures Galaxy M88 with a black hole 100 million times the Sun's mass

NASA has recently released an image of Messier 88 (M88) captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a spiral galaxy located around 63 million light-years away from Earth. It is also known as NGC 4501, which lies in the constellation Coma Berenices and is part of the Virgo Cluster, a massive collection of more than a thousand galaxies bound together by gra jivity. Also Read: NASA confirmed! Meteor blast over New England in USA with the power of 300 tons of TNT

The image shows the well-defined spiral structure of the M88; however, astronomers are more interested in what is at its centre. It is a supermassive black hole, and NASA estimated it to be about 100 million times more massive than the Sun. Also Read: Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes in fireball during pre-launch test

All about M88: What’s special about it

NASA M88 is classified as an active galaxy. In simple words, it carries a supermassive black hole at its centre that is actively consuming surrounding gas and dust. Astronomers estimate that this black hole is about 100 million times more massive than the Sun. Also Read: Moon base by the next decade? NASA shares rover, lander and drone plans

According to NASA, the black hole may also be responsible for driving streams of gas away from the galaxy’s centre. The latest Hubble image also shows several tightly packed spiral arms filled with star clusters and dust clouds. A group of older reddish stars near the centre gives the galaxy its bright core.

Know that the galaxy is part of the Virgo Cluster, which contains more than a thousand galaxies bound together by gravity. Like other members of the cluster, M88 is constantly moving through space. Scientists believe the galaxy is slowly heading towards the inner region of the Virgo Cluster.

That journey could eventually bring it closer to Messier 87 (M87), one of the most massive galaxies in the cluster. Researchers estimate that the closest approach could happen around 200 million to 300 million years from now.

Is M88 changing?

Interestingly, astronomers have already spotted signs that M88 is being affected by its surroundings. As the galaxy moves through the Virgo Cluster, it experiences a phenomenon called ram pressure stripping. This process can remove gas from a galaxy as it travels through the material present between galaxies.

Add Techlusive as a Preferred Source

Scientists have found that M88 contains less cold gas than expected, especially in its outer regions. Since cold gas is the raw material needed to create new stars, this could affect the galaxy’s ability to form stars in the future.