The James Webb Space Telescope has captured detailed infrared images of Messier 90 (M90), a massive spiral galaxy roughly 59 million light-years away that is escaping the Virgo Cluster. About 300 million years ago M90 passed near the cluster center and lost much of its gas, halting new star formation and causing it to fade. The galaxy appears to be flattening toward a lenticular form, and the observation—part of a 55-galaxy survey—will help astronomers study galactic evolution. M90 is visible in May under dark skies and poses no immediate threat to Earth.
James Webb Reveals Messier 90: A Massive Galaxy Escaping the Virgo Cluster Toward the Milky Way
See it: New Webb telescope image reveals massive galaxy M90 escaping cluster, heading toward Milky Way
A newly released infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope offers an unprecedented view of Messier 90 (M90), a large spiral galaxy that appears to be leaving the Virgo Cluster and moving in the general direction of the Milky Way.
M90 lies roughly 59 million light-years from Earth and is one of the relatively few galaxies observed to be moving closer to our galaxy, NASA reports. Over time, interactions within the Virgo Cluster accelerated M90’s orbit until it began to escape the cluster’s gravitational grip.
"Over time, its orbit through the Virgo Cluster accelerated so much that M90 is in the process of escaping the cluster entirely," NASA said.
About 300 million years ago, M90 passed near the center of the Virgo Cluster, where dense intracluster gas stripped away large amounts of the galaxy’s gas and dust. That stripping deprived M90 of the raw material needed for new star formation, so the galaxy’s overall brightness is slowly fading.
NASA scientists say that this loss of gas is also altering M90’s structure: the galaxy is becoming flatter and shows signs of evolving toward a lenticular morphology, an intermediate form between spirals and ellipticals.
The Webb Telescope’s infrared capabilities help astronomers peer through dust and foreground stars, revealing structural details that were harder to detect in visible light. This observation is part of a broader survey of 55 massive, star-forming galaxies, designed to improve our understanding of how galaxies grow and transform over billions of years.
From Earth, M90 is best observed in May. Under a dark, clear sky it is visible with binoculars, while larger amateur telescopes can resolve its spiral arms and bright core. Despite moving in our direction on cosmic scales, M90 poses no immediate threat: at about 59 million light-years away it would still take billions of years to reach the Milky Way, if it ever does.
Why this matters: High-resolution infrared imaging from Webb is giving astronomers clearer views of how environment-driven processes—like gas stripping in clusters—alter galaxy evolution and star formation over time.
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