by Bob Franke
Taken on 2/13/2010 to 2/23/2010 in Chino Valley, AZ
RCOS 12.5" Ritchey-Chrétien w/ an SBIG STL-11000 camera using Astrodon filters
Exposure Details:
Lum 330 min. ( 22 x 15 min.)
RGB 225 min. ( 5 x 15 min. each)
North is to the top.
This beautiful trio of galaxies is in the area of the constellation Coma Berenices. NGC 4725 (center) and NGC 4747 (upper left) are neighbors at a distance of 45 to 57 million and 40 to 56 million light-yrs respectively. Galaxy NGC 4712, at the lower right, is in the background... about 207 million light-years away.
Tidal interaction with supergiant spiral NGC 4725, is the generally accepted cause for the severe distortion of the smaller NGC 4747 galaxy. This interaction has given NGC 4747 three tidal tails, two large at the upper left and a smaller one at the opposite end of the galaxy. The direction of these three plums trace directly towards NGC 4725.
NGC 4725 has its own peculiarities. While most spiral galaxies have two or more arms, NGC 4725 seems to have only one.