Two More Images from February 23
Dick Steinberg
In the center lies M35, the large (25 arc-min, magnitude 5.1) open cluster in Gemini, with the much smaller (5 arc-min, magnitude 8.6) NGC2158 to its southwest (lower right corner). Six-minute exposure with the 31cm Hyperion Cassegrain telescope .
NGC4631, the Whale galaxy and the nearby NGC4656 Hockey-Stick galaxy:
195-minute exposure showing this fine pair of galaxies lying in Canes Venatici. The Whale galaxy (SDSS redshift = .0022, corresponding to a distance of 9.1 MPc or about 30 million light-years) is an elongated 9th magnitude nearly edge-on distorted barred spiral 15 arc-min long by 3 wide. The small 12th magnitude elliptical galaxy just above it is designated NGC4627 (also ARP 281). The elliptical (RA=190.49979, DEC=32.57354) has a redshift of z = .0026, placing it about 2 MPc beyond the Whale Galaxy.
In the lower left (SE) corner of the image notice the irregular Hockey-Stick galaxy, with its (faint) tidal plume extending to the NE (up and left), a result of the galaxy's interaction with the Whale. The Hockey-Stick's redshift (0.0021) is close to that of the Whale, presumably placing it within reach of the latter's gravitational force.
Close inspection of the image will reveal a multitude of background galaxies.
