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| Whale Galaxy NGC 4631 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| The Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631) is a large spiral galaxy, similar in size to our own Milky Way, but seen edge-on. At a distance of 22 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, this galaxy is among the brightest omitted from Messier's famous catalog, but Patrick Moore included it as entry 32 in his Caldwell Catalog. A smaller elliptical galaxy, NGC 4627 appears to float on the back of the whale. The Whale Galaxy lacks the symmetry of other edge-on spirals such as NGC 4565. Gravitational interactions with adjacent NGC 4627 and nearby NGC 4656 not only distort the galaxy, but also stimulate a burst of new star formation. These young stars appear in clusters as blue-white areas in our view. This image combined 3 1/4 hours of Luminence exposures using an ST10XME camera and AP reducer through a Meade 12" LX200R telescope, with 1 1/2 hours red and 1 hour each of green and blue exposures using an ST2000XM camera through a TEC140 refractor. This photo, combining almost 7 hours of total exposures, was take at the Hidden Lake Observatory. |
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| Music: Octopus Garden, the Beatles | |||||||||||||||||||
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