Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  NGC 4627  ·  NGC 4631  ·  NGC 4656  ·  Whale Galaxy
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Hockey Sticks and Whales, James Plotz
Hockey Sticks and Whales
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Hockey Sticks and Whales

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Hockey Sticks and Whales, James Plotz
Hockey Sticks and Whales
Powered byPixInsight

Hockey Sticks and Whales

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Description

NGC 4631 (also known as the Whale Galaxy or Caldwell 32) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellationCanes Venatici. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname=10.5px. Because this nearby galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth, professional astronomers observe this galaxy to better understand the gas and stars located outside the plane of the galaxy. NGC 4631 contains a central starburst, which is a region of intense star formation. The strong star formation is evident in the emission from ionizedhydrogen and interstellar dust heated by the stars formed in the starburst. 

NGC 4656/57 is a highly warped barred spiral galaxy located in the constellationCanes Venatici and is sometimes informally called the Hockey Stick Galaxies or the Crowbar Galaxy. Its unusual shape is thought to be due to an interaction between NGC 4656NGC 4631, and NGC 4627. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 4631 Group

-Wikipedia

This image was another run using a nice widefield 80mm OTA and the AM5 from ZWO over two nights in my backyard in SE WI.  Im very happy with the detail that I got on the whale galaxy with this setup.

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Hockey Sticks and Whales, James Plotz