NGC 4214 is a dwarf irregular galaxy located about 10 million light years distant in Canes Venatici and is a member of the M94 Group. It is larger and brighter than the Small Megallanic Cloud as well as a starburst galaxy with the majority of the star-forming regions in the galaxy's center.
Two satellite galaxies are known to exist - UGCA 276 (also called DDO 113) is the faint elliptical dwarf galaxy to the lower left of NGC 4214 and another fainter and smaller dwarf galaxy (not within the image's field). The David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) Catalogue is a catalogue of dwarf galaxies compiled by Sidney van den Bergh and published by the David Dunlap Observatory in 1959. DDO 113 is a dwarf that has ceased star formation about 1 billion years ago and is considered "quenched" - basically an evolution stage of galaxies where a lack of gas is available for active star formation. If you like scientific papers, see "The Case for Strangulation in Low-Mass Hosts: DDO 113" by C. T. Garling, et al, in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) preprint 30 Aug 2019.
The other galaxy on the left is UGC 7257.
I've imaged a few of these galaxies - see also NGC 4449 (
https://astrob.in/5lohl0/0/), IC 2574 Coddington's Nebula (
https://astrob.in/yv64ko/F/) and IC 10 (
https://astrob.in/iyhsp7/0/). Most dwarf irregular galaxies like this one always seem "messy" with little detail or structure...and this one is no exception!
Imaged over several nights: Mar 9, 16, 20-21; Apr 10, 19, 2023.
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