(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, March 30, 2020: This remarkable spiral galaxy,
known as NGC 4651, may look serene and peaceful as it swirls in the
vast, silent emptiness of space, but don’t be fooled — it keeps a
violent secret. It is believed that this galaxy consumed another smaller
galaxy to become the large and beautiful spiral that we observe today.
Although only a telescope like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,
which captured this image, could give us a picture this clear, NGC 4651
can also be observed with an amateur telescope — so if you have a
telescope at home and a star-gazing eye, look out for this glittering
carnivorous spiral.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Leonard
