Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)  ·  Contains:  IC 3543  ·  NGC 4562  ·  NGC 4565
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NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy, Randal Healey
NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy
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NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy

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NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy, Randal Healey
NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy

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Description

NGC 4565, also known as the Needle Galaxy or Caldwell 38, is the largest edge-on spiral galaxy in the night sky. It is quite similar to our Milky Way, although NGC 4565 is slightly more massive (our Galaxy has a mass of about eight hundred billion suns). The Needle Galaxy contains at least two hundred globular clusters and is thought to have a dark matter halo with a mass of several hundred billion suns).

A dark dust lane runs the entire length of the galaxy, masking much of the arms’ brightness. The central region features a small bulge, and that is the easiest place to detect the dust lane. The dark streak is offset a little to the north of center because NGC 4565 is inclined to an angle of 87°, 3° from edge-on.

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NGC 4565, The Needle Galaxy, Randal Healey