Distant Lenticular Galaxy NGC 4996 in Virgo | Subaru Telescope
NGC 4996 is a lenticular galaxy in the Virgo constellation. NGC 4996 is situated close to the celestial equator and it is at least partly visible from Earth's northern and southern hemispheres during specific times of the year.
Distance from Earth: 260 million light-years
A lenticular, means "lens-shaped," galaxy occupies an intermediate position between elliptical and spiral galaxies in the Hubble Classification scheme. These galaxies exhibit little or no ongoing star formation and lack the prominent spiral arms that characterize spiral galaxies. Instead, many lenticular galaxies feature a bright central bar and, in certain cases, a faint outer ring. These are visible in the galaxy NGC 4996.
Astronomers believe that lenticular galaxies have lost much of the gas necessary for forming new stars. As star formation ceased, their spiral arms may have gradually faded from view. The bar and ring structures observed today are thought to be remnants of the galaxy’s former disk. Galaxies slowly change their appearance over time, and this lenticular galaxy may provide us with a glimpse of one stage in that evolutionary transition.
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