DEEP SKY TOUR
A selection of striking galaxies on the border of Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices
NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, is a mag. +9.5 galaxy 3° southwest of Gamma Comae Berenices. It earns its name well, appearing like a thin sliver of light. In a 6-inch instrument its appearance is grainy with the hint of a thin dark dust lane along part of its length. The central bulge is easy to observe in a 10-inch scope and it’s interesting to see how far you can trace the dust lane either side of it. A mag. +13.5 star appears centrally positioned, 1.5 arcminutes northeast of the galaxy’s core. NGC 4565 is about 43 million lightyears away and more luminous than our famous closer neighbour M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Only marginally dimmer, NGC 4559 can be located 1.9° further north. At mag. +9.9, it’s still a viable subject for smaller scopes, a 6-inch VFRSH UHYHDOLQJ LWV GH QLWH RYDO VKDSH [ DUFPLQXWHV in size. The oval looks fairly even in brightness, with only a subtle hint of brightening towards its core. A reddish mag. +11.9 foreground star appears close to the galaxy’s northeast edge. NGC 4559 is probably DURXQG PLOOLRQ OLJKW\HDUV DZD\ 2ULJLQDO GLVWDQFH estimates came from the type-II supernova observed within NGC 4559 back in 1941. The supernova reached PDJ DW LWV SHDN Ĵ telescopes or long-exposure imaging show the galaxy to have overlapping outer arms that appear to form a ring around its core. Our next target takes us north into Canes Venatici where our best navigational guide is the SDLU RI VWDUV 7<& DQG 7<& p QRUWK DQG slightly east of Gamma Comae Berenices. Edge-on spiral galaxy 1*& OLHV p west-southwest of this SDLU $ LQFK VFRSH VKRZV D QHHGOH OLNH REMHFW [ arcminutes in size with VLJQL FDQW DV\PPHWU\ 7KH core appears mottled, the section heading southwest from it being faint with a small marginally brighter patch at the end. The portion heading northeast appears brighter with a ‘hook’ at the HQG GHVLJQDWHG DV 1*& 7KH RYHUDOO DSSHDUDQFH has given rise to it being called the Hockey Stick or Crowbar Galaxy.