Hubble Glimpses Galactic Gas Making a Getaway

Explore Hubble

Hubble Home
Overview

About Hubble
The History of Hubble
Hubble Timeline
Why Have a Telescope in Space?
Hubble by the Numbers
At the Museum
FAQs

Impact & Benefits

Hubble’s Impact & Benefits
Science Impacts
Cultural Impact
Technology Benefits
Impact on Human Spaceflight
Astro Community Impacts

Science

Hubble Science
Science Themes
Science Highlights
Science Behind Discoveries
Universe Uncovered
Hubble’s Partners in Science
Hubble & Citizen Science
AI & Hubble Science
Explore the Night Sky

Observatory

Hubble Observatory
Hubble Design
Mission Operations
Science Operations
Astronaut Missions to Hubble
Hubble vs Webb

Team

Hubble Team
Career Aspirations
Hubble Astronauts

Multimedia

Images
Videos
Sonifications
Podcasts
e-Books
Online Activities
3D Hubble Models
Lithographs
Fact Sheets
Posters
Hubble on the NASA App
Glossary

News

Hubble News
Social Media
Media Resources

More

35th Anniversary
Online Activities

2 min read
Hubble Glimpses Galactic Gas Making a Getaway

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy NGC 4388, a member of the Virgo galaxy cluster.
ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Veilleux, J. Wang, J. Greene

A sideways spiral galaxy shines in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. Located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden), NGC 4388 is a resident of the Virgo galaxy cluster. This enormous cluster of galaxies contains more than a thousand members and is the nearest large galaxy cluster to the Milky Way.
NGC 4388 appears to tilt at an extreme angle relative to our point of view, giving us a nearly edge-on prospect of the galaxy. This perspective reveals a curious feature that wasn’t visible in a previous Hubble image of this galaxy released in 2016: a plume of gas from the galaxy’s nucleus, here seen billowing out from the galaxy’s disk toward the lower-right corner of the image. But where did this outflow come from, and why does it glow?
The answer likely lies in the vast stretches of space that separate the galaxies of the Virgo cluster. Though the space between galaxies appears empty, this space is occupied by hot wisps of gas called the intracluster medium. As NGC 4388 moves within the Virgo cluster, it plunges through the intracluster medium. Pressure from hot intracluster gas whisks away gas from within NGC 4388’s disk, causing it to trail behind as NGC 4388 moves.
The source of the ionizing energy that causes this gas cloud to glow is more uncertain. Researchers suspect that some of the energy comes from the center of the galaxy, where a supermassive black hole spins gas around it into a superheated disk. The blazing radiation from this disk might ionize the gas closest to the galaxy, while shock waves might be responsible for ionizing filaments of gas farther out.
This image incorporates new data, including several additional wavelengths of light, that bring the ionized gas cloud into view. The image holds data from several observing programs that aim to illuminate galaxies with active black holes at their centers.

Facebook logo

@NASAHubble

@NASAHubble

Instagram logo

@NASAHubble

Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Share

Details

Last Updated

Dec 18, 2025

Editor

Andrea Gianopoulos

Location

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Related Terms

Hubble Space Telescope
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Division
Galaxies
Goddard Space Flight Center
Spiral Galaxies
The Universe

Keep Exploring
Discover More Topics From Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Explore the Night Sky

Hubble & Citizen Science

Hubble Science Operations

View Source