Hubble sees 'Lost Galaxy' in the Virgo constellation photo of the day for Dec. 11, 2025

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Hubble Space Telescope has turned its sharp gaze to a ghostly swirl of stars and gas known as the “Lost Galaxy”, given its hazy and elusive appearance. constellations More scientifically, this galaxy is known as NGC 4535 and is home to lots of stellar activity.

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What is this?

In this recent image, the Hubble Space Telescope captures the spiral arms of NGC 4535 studded with bright blue star clusters: tightly packed families of young, attractive people StarsThere are areas of soft pink-red glow around many of these clusters, which are ionized regions, Hydrogen gas is known as the H II region. These H II regions act like neon signs advertising recent star formation. Massive, newly formed stars release intense ultraviolet radiation and powerful stellar winds, causing the surrounding gas to energize and cause it to glow.

where is?

‘Lost Galaxy’ found about 50 million light years away Virgo sun sign.

A glowing spiral galaxy of pink, purple and yellow gas swirls around tiny dots of young stars in space — The “Lost Galaxy” is full of H II regions. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA, F. Belfiore, J. Lee and the FANGS-HST team)

Why is this surprising?

The new image is part of a larger effort by astronomers to catalog about 50,000 H II regions in nearby star-forming galaxies. By systematically mapping these glowing clouds in galaxies like NGC 4535, astronomers can better understand where and how stars form, how long star-forming regions last and how newborn stars affect the cool gas from which they came, part of a larger NASA FANGS Observation Program.

From faint haze on Earth-based telescopes to high-resolution photos from Hubble, NGC 4535 is no longer so “lost.” Instead, it is emerging as a laboratory for understanding how galaxies grow their stars.