Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 4121  ·  NGC 4125  ·  PGC 2676135  ·  PGC 38406
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 4125, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 4125

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 4125, Gary Imm
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 4125

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

This object is an elliptical galaxy located 80 million light years away in the constellation of Draco at a declination of +65 degrees. This 9.7 magnitude galaxy spans 6 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to an actual diameter of 130,000 light years.

This is an unusual elliptical galaxy. The April 2020 issue of Astronomy magazine describes it as having a “nearly stellar nucleus”. The January 2020 issue of the same magazine says that this galaxy is “a peculiar massive elliptical galaxy in which evolved stars produced in a merger-triggered burst of star formation are pumping large amounts of gas and dust into the galaxy’s interstellar medium”. Odd ellipticals and past mergers seem to go hand-in-hand.

I find two things particularly unusual. One is the faint dust clouds which are seen in the immediate vicinity around the core. The second is the faint star stream pattern which extends beyond the bright horizontal oval region. I see at least 7 lobes spreading outward, making the galaxy look a bit like a big fuzzy star.

Comments