Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)  ·  Contains:  NGC 4670  ·  NGC 4673
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Arp 163, Gary Imm
Arp 163, Gary Imm

Arp 163

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Arp 163, Gary Imm
Arp 163, Gary Imm

Arp 163

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Description

This Astrobin Debut Object, also known as NGC 4670, is a dwarf galaxy located 50 million light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices at a declination of +27 degrees. This magnitude 13 galaxy spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of only 15,000 light years.

In his Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the category of Galaxies with Diffuse Filaments.

I was surprised with the amount of detail in this small object, especially compared to the Arp image in the mouseover. Arp’s notes document that seeing was poor on the night that this Arp image was taken.

The central region is very bright and flares upward like a flame. Several star clusters are seen. This galaxy is fascinating to me because it looks like a galaxy in transition from a dwarf galaxy to a spiral. A grand design spiral shape (2 strong arms) can be roughly seen in its structure, partly hidden by a star halo.

The galaxy to the lower right is NGC 4673, located 4 times further away at 200 million light years. It is 60,000 light years in diameter.

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