The little-known constellation of Hounds of Dogs is the home of many objects in deep space. The beautiful galaxy NGC 4861 has also found shelter here. In the world of astronomy, there are still debates about its classification. The fact is that the physical properties (mass, size and speed of rotation) indicate that we have a spiral galaxy. But in appearance it looks more like a comet with a dense luminous “head” and a lagging tail. These features are more suitable for a dwarf irregular galaxy.
Despite its small size and pollution, the NGC 4861 object provides astronomers with an interesting field of study. Small galaxies have a lower gravitational potential. That is, they have less energy for the internal movement of the material. As a result, moving around and inside is pretty easy. This probably was the fact that it is filled with streams and outflows of fast charged particles - galactic winds that capture such galaxies with minimal effort. They can be fueled by the continuous process of forming stars, which carry a huge energy reserve. New stars are born in the bright and colorful “head” of NGC 4861 and emit particles at high speeds to join the wider galactic wind. While NGC 4861 was the ideal candidate to study these winds, recent studies have not found them there.
