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NGC 4656
Object Type: Spiral
Galaxy (Sc pec)
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Magnitude: 10.4
Size: 13.8' x 3.3' |
NGC 4631
Object Type: Spiral
Galaxy (Sc)
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Magnitude: 9.8
Size: 17.0' x 3.5' |
These two galaxies exhibit
distorted shapes caused by their gravitational interaction. NGC 4631 is commonly called
"The Whale," while NGC 4656 is commonly called "The Hockey Stick." NCG
4631 has a small elliptical companion, NGC 4627, which can be seen in this image. These
galaxies are about 30 million light-years from our own galaxy.
Equipment: Vixen
102-ED/ST-10XME/Astrodon LRGB filters/Paramount ME
F-ratio: f/6.5
Exposure: LRGB: L 16 x 5 minutes: R 16 x 5 minutes: G 16 x 5
minutes: B 16 x 5 minutes: RGB binned 2x2
Date: May 19, 2006, April 5-6, 2008
Location: Landers, California, USA
Technical Notes: Exposures were acquired using CCDAutoPilot2 and
then sigma combined. The RGB images were combined in Registar 1.0. Unsharp Mask was
selectively applied to the brightest portions of the luminance image. Gaussian Blur was
applied to the dim portions of the luminance image and to the RGB image.
