The galaxy belongs to a relatively rare type of "star megapolis", a so called lenticular galaxy which is a mixture of elliptical and spiral galaxies.
At first glance, NGC 4111 looks like quite ordinary, but some of its features indicate that it is not as quiet as it seems.
In the image, the galaxy is surrounded by a ring of dust and gas, which as astronomers assume, are left over from a smaller dwarf galaxy which NGC 4111 absorbed in the past.
Researchers argue that the absorption process could take place as a result of the collision of galaxies, which is quite a common occurrence in space.
Usually such collisions lead to a merger of the galaxies or the destruction of a smaller one. The phenomenon of large galaxies swallowing up smaller galaxies is often called galactic cannibalism.
