Hubble Reveals Galaxy NGC 4388 Losing Gas in Cosmic Struggle

• NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed galaxy NGC 4388 losing gas as it speeds through the dense Virgo galaxy cluster.
• This phenomenon, called ram-pressure stripping, occurs when hot cluster gas acts like a wind, pushing star-forming gas out of the galaxy.
• The loss of gas inhibits star formation, causing galaxies to slowly become quiet and old, a process captured in a rare cosmic moment.
• New image processing was crucial to reveal the faint, glowing gas plume stretching far from NGC 4388's disk, previously missed by Hubble.
• The discovery provides direct evidence of how harsh environments reshape galaxies, validating theoretical models of galaxy evolution.

Why It Matters: Hubble's observation of NGC 4388 reveals ram-pressure stripping, showing how environments shape galaxies.