Fluffy spiral galaxy NGC 4414./Courtesy of ESA/Hubble & NASA, O. Graur, S. W. Jha, A. Filippenko
Fluffy spiral galaxy NGC 4414./Courtesy of ESA/Hubble & NASA, O. Graur, S. W. Jha, A. Filippenko

How much mass does a fluffy spiral galaxy hide? To answer this question, an image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4414, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, has been released.

A fluffy spiral galaxy is a very common type of galaxy that lacks distinct spiral arms. Among these, NGC 4414 is one of the closest galaxies to Earth. The stars and gas near the edges of the spiral galaxy orbit the center very quickly, and to prevent them from dispersing, the gravity of an enormous amount of invisible dark matter is required.

Understanding the distribution of ordinary matter and dark matter in NGC 4414 helps in understanding other galaxies and, furthermore, the entire class of fluffy spiral galaxies. Additionally, accurately measuring the distance to NGC 4414 plays an important role in adjusting the 'cosmic distance ladder' for measuring distances in the universe.