The Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631) in Canes Venatici

Posted by Steve Pastor
on Friday, July 13, 2018

NGC 4631 is found in the constellation Canes Venatici. The wedge-shape of this galaxy gives rise to its nickname, the Whale Galaxy. The starburst regions of this galaxy can be seen in the photo, which are due to intensive star formation. Tidal interactions of NGC 4627, which is seen just above NGC 4631, has been suggested as one of the reasons for the active core of NGC 4631 (as well as tidal interactions with other nearby galaxies). The small edge-on galaxy at the top of the image is PGC 3794315 (NASA Extragalactic Database). Total of 5 hr 40 min exposure taken with an SBIG STF8300c CCD camera and a 12.5 inch RCOS f/9 astrograph operating at f/6 (Astro-Physics CCDT067 reducer) mounted on a Paramount ME on the nights of 8, 15, 16 May 2018 in Mayhill, New Mexico (17 x 1200 sec Lights @ -15 degrees C; 15 darks; 128 bias; 128 flats). Processed with PixInsight 1.8.5.1353 Ripley (x64).

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