Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  NGC 4656  ·  NGC 4657
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Hockey Stick Galaxy, KuriousGeorge
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Hockey Stick Galaxy

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Hockey Stick Galaxy, KuriousGeorge
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Hockey Stick Galaxy

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Final 2 very clear, dark and steady nights between storms @ 4,200' !

Unfortunately the 2024 Julian, CA winter has been a bit unforgiving for astrophotography. )-:

So here's 2 nights of 21.5 SQM skies with all subs comfortably below < 2 FWHM between 8:30 PM and 4 AM. (-:

"NGC 4656/57 is a highly warped edge-on barred spiral galaxy located 30 million light years away from earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy is sometimes called the Hockey Stick Galaxy or the Crowbar Galaxy.

This unusual shape is thought to be due to an interaction between NGC 4656 and a couple of near neighbours, NGC 4631 (otherwise known as The Whale Galaxy) and NGC 4627 (a small elliptical). Galactic interactions can completely reshape a celestial object, shifting and warping its constituent gas, stars, and dust into bizarre and beautiful configurations. 

The faint object in the lower-right corner may not be part of the galaxy, but instead a dwarf galaxy in the process of merging with NGC 4656."

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Hockey Stick Galaxy, KuriousGeorge