The latest Hubble Space Telescope image of the Virgo spiral galaxy Messier 90 demonstrates advanced technological capabilities compared to an earlier image taken in 1994. The new image reveals the galaxy's bright core, dusty disk and halo, enhanced by the Wide Field Camera 3 installed in 2010.

New Hubble images of Messier 90 reveal important details about its structure and the changes taking place. As it travels through the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, losing gas but also getting closer to Earth, M90 provides a unique case study of galactic transformation. Image credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA, D.Thilker, J.Lee and the PHANGS-HST teamThe stunning spiral galaxy featured in this Hubble Space Telescope image is Messier 90 (M90, also known as NGC 4569) in the constellation Virgo. In 2019, Hubble released an image of M90 (see image below) using data from the earlier Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) - data taken in 1994, shortly after the camera was installed. The image has a unique staircase-like pattern due to the layout of the WFPC2 sensor. In 2010, WFPC2 was replaced by the more advanced Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which Hubble used in 2019 and again in 2023 when it shifted its aperture to Messier90. Hubble used WFC3 when it turned its aperture to Messier90 in 2019 and again in 2023. The resulting data was processed to create this stunning new image (above), which provides a more complete view of the Milky Way's dusty disk, gaseous halo and bright core.Hubble image of Messier90 released in 2019. This beautiful spiral galaxy is approximately 60 million light-years from the Milky Way in the constellation Virgo. Image source: ESA/Hubble&NASA, W. Sargent et al.

The inner region of M90's disk is where stars form, highlighted by the nebula's red H-alpha light, but not the rest of the galaxy. M90 is located in the relatively nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies, and its orbit brought it close to the center of the cluster about 300 million years ago. The density of gas within the cluster acts like a strong headwind against M90, stripping large amounts of gas away from the galaxy and creating the diffuse halo visible here. This gas will no longer allow M90 to form new stars, so it will eventually fade away and become a spiral galaxy.

M90 is 55 million light-years away from Earth, but it is one of the few galaxies that is getting closer to us. Its orbit through the Virgo Cluster has sped it up so much that it is escaping the cluster entirely, and as it happens, it is moving in our direction - other galaxies in the Virgo Cluster have been measured with similar velocities, but in the opposite direction. Over the next few billion years, we'll see a better side of M90 as it evolves into a columnar galaxy.

Compiled from/SciTechDaily