‘Peaceful’ Umbrella Galaxy Is A Cannibal In Constellation Coma Berenices

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – NGC 4651 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices that can be seen with amateur telescopes, at a distance not well determined that ranges from 35 million light-years to 72 million light-years.

This fascinating object was discovered in 1783 by the famous British astronomer William Herschel.

NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy. source

This remarkable spiral galaxy may look peaceful as it swirls in the vast, silent emptiness of space, but don’t be fooled because this beautiful celestial object keeps a violent secret. It is believed that this galaxy is a cannibal, as it already consumed another smaller galaxy to become the large and beautiful spiral that we observe today.

Spiral galaxy NGC 4651 is also known as the Umbrella Galaxy due to the umbrella-shaped structure that extends some 100 thousand light-years beyond the bright galactic disk.

This galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster that has many other spiral galaxies. With approximately 1300 (and possibly up to 2000) member galaxies, the cluster spans an area of the sky about 5 by 3 degrees in size. Some of the most prominent members of this cluster can be seen in smaller astronomical instruments. One of them is a 6-inch telescope that can reveal about 160 galaxies in this region on a clear night.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Leonard

The Milky Way and the Umbrella Galaxy share many of the same characteristics. Namely, both are approximately the same size, each spanning about 100,000 light-years across. Both also have a bright central disk.

Unlike most spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, however, NGC 4651 is rich in neutral hydrogen, also extending beyond the optical disk, and its star formation is the typical for a galaxy of its type

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.

Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff