March 28, 2008

In Today's One Minute Astronomer...

NGC 4565: The Flying Saucer Galaxy

With a thin disk and bulging central nucleus, this magnificent edge-on spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices resembles a frosty flying saucer speeding through intergalactic space.

The Basics

• About 53 million light years away, NGC 4565 is the largest edge-on spiral galaxy seen from Earth

• Our own Milky Way Galaxy would look much like NGC 4565 if viewed edge on from a distance of 50 million light years or so

• You'll find it just northeast of an imaginary line between the star Gamma Coma and 23 Comae (at +12h 36m 20.6s, +25d 59m 20s)

• Forget the binoculars for this one… you'll need at least a 6-inch scope to get a good view of the disk and nucleus. A 10” or larger and good skies will reveal the equatorial dust lanes. Averted vision is a must!

NGC 4565 as it might appear in a small telescope

A Deeper Look

• Roughly 125,000 light years in diameter, this beauty is about 25% larger that the Milky Way

• The dust lane obscures and scatters starlight from the interior, and makes the light near its equator appear reddish. You can see this effect on close-ups

• This galaxy lies 3.5 degrees away from the north galactic pole, so it's in a part of the sky that looks out of the plane of our galaxy and into deep intergalactic space. You'll find many other faint galaxies nearby.

• Two other favorite edge-ons are the Sombrero Galaxy, M104 and NGC 891, which many often mistake for NGC 4565.

A Bit of History

Charles Messier missed this 9.6 magnitude wonder, though he did record a few objects that were even fainter. The first human to see NGC 4565 was William Herschel in 1785.

Personal View

This is my favorite galaxy. I first saw this frosty spindle-dust lanes and all- with an 11” SCT from the suburbs of a large city. Unforgettable!

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