APOD: NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge (2024 Jun 06)

[APOD Robot]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

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[AVAO]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

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...a needle with a hole in the middle - even if you only see it in IR ,-)

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

jac berne (flickr) artistic composit ao SDSS10/SST

[Ann]

NGC 4565 is one of the truly classic galaxies for owners of a telescope, since it presents such a gorgeous thin bright pencil line in the sky.

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge. Image Credit & Copyright: Lóránd Fényes

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NGC 4565 shines in this image by manuelj.g.

The orientation of NGC 4565, where north is up and east to the left, is the orientation seen in manuelj.g's image. And as a Color Commentator, I must point out that the color balance in the APOD is on the blue side.

Wikipedia wrote:

NGC 4565 is a giant spiral galaxy more luminous than the Andromeda Galaxy.

Indeed, it's huge. And flat. NGC 4565 is, or appears to be, just lots and lots and lots of galaxy with not much happening inside. No giant star clusters. No pink emission nebulas. No obvious halo surrounding the bulge. No interesting dust bunnies. Hardly any asymmetry. No visible warp. (Okay, so there's a small warp there, impressed ...)

Compare NGC 4565 with NGC 4631! Now we are talking a galaxy where things are happening!

NGC 4631. Credit: R. Jay GaBany.

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And look at this! Neutral gas flows from NGC 4631 (top) towards NGC 4656 (bottom left). Image source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-neutral-hydrogen-in-the-NGC-4631-system-blue-overlaid-on-the-ROSA-L_fig4_267338882

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According to Wikipedia, NGC 4565 may be in the aftermath of a period of more intense star formation. Well, if so, things have sure quieted down since then.

NGC 4565 is "an almost perfect edge-on galaxy". What would it look like if it was face on?

I searched and searched. It had to be a large galaxy, a galaxy with little star formation and a high degree of symmetry. After much searching, I thought that NGC 3147 might be a good analogy for a face-on NGC 4565:

NGC 3147. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble/The Astronomy Enthusiast (William Ostling)

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Impressive, isn't it? And if you think that the galaxy looks strangely blue (and I definitely thought so), it's because this is not an RGB image. Instead, two infrared filters have been used for the image, plus one green filter.

Wikipedia wrote about NGC 3147:

NGC 3147 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Draco. It is located at a distance of circa 130 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3147 is about 140,000 light years across.

If the diameter of NGC 3147 is 140,000 light-years, then it is bigger than the Milky Way and almost as big as Andromeda, whose isophotal diameter is 152,000 light-years. NGC 4565 is bigger than Andromeda. But NGC 4565 and NGC 3147 are almost the same color, B-V = 0.840 for NGC 4565 and B-V = 0.820 for NGC 3147.


So if you want to know what NGC 4565 looks like face on, you may want to look at NGC 3147!

Ann

[Ann]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

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...a needle with a hole in the middle - even if you only see it in IR ,-)

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

jac berne (flickr) artistic composit ao SDSS10/SST

Wow, Jac! That's amazing!

NGC 4565 isn't doing much, but as a galaxy, it could just be a needle pulling thread!

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Ann

[Christian G.]

Graceful spiral arms are always a pretty sight but every once in a while a galaxy seen edge-on can be stunning! As for the "Needle" nickname, sure, but that's an impressive needle! 175 000 light-years long and 5000 light-years thick! With a trillion stars. (depending on sources)

(Hubble image)

[johnnydeep]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

The "obscuring dust lanes" page got hung up and never displayed the larger image when I clicked on the pic on the linked page, but this page has the same image: https://esahubble.org/images/potw1228a/

And the "screen size" one is still impressively detailed. I'll ask Ann about all those nice blue dots: are they individual big blue newish stars or clusters?

Click to view full size image

Oh, and yes, per the remarkable post from AVAO above, the "needle" galaxy really does seem to have the "eye" - and a large one at that - in the exact center! BTW, does that red ring around the eye in IR signify dust?

[Ann]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

The "obscuring dust lanes" page got hung up and never displayed the larger image when I clicked on the pic on the linked page, but this page has the same image: https://esahubble.org/images/potw1228a/

And the "screen size" one is still impressively detailed. I'll ask Ann about all those nice blue dots: are they individual big blue newish stars or clusters?

Click to view full size image

Oh, and yes, per the remarkable post from AVAO above, the "needle" galaxy really does seem to have the "eye" - and a large one at that - in the exact center! BTW, does that red ring around the eye in IR signify dust?

A few clusters are obvious, as well as one association. Associations are more spread out than clusters.

There are other clusters and associations too. But the number of clusters and associations in NGC 4565 is relatively small.

The Sco-Cen association. Credit: Akira Fuji

And yes, red means dust in Spitzer Space Telescope infrared images.

Ann

[AVAO]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

...a needle with a hole in the middle - even if you only see it in IR ,-)

Click to view full size image 1 or image 2

jac berne (flickr) artistic composit ao SDSS10/SST

Wow, Jac! That's amazing!

NGC 4565 isn't doing much, but as a galaxy, it could just be a needle pulling thread!

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Ann

I like our neighboring country Austria and also the story with the twine.
Especially this spacey X-shape in the middle of the galaxie ,-)
Elon would also like this if he flies past there...

Click to view full size image

Source:www.baumwoll-seite.de


Hubble view of galaxy NGC 4710 with x-shaped bulge:

Click to view full size image

Credit: NASA/ESA (HST)


Hubble’s celestial peanut (NGC 1175):

Click to view full size image

https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/ima ... illars.png
Credit: NASA/ESA (HST)


X marks the spot at the center of the Milky Way galaxy

Click to view full size image

WISE allsky map of the sky showing the Milky Way Galaxy. The central circle indicates the centre of the Galaxy and the inset shows an enhanced view of the x-shaped structure. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; D. Lang/Dunlap Institute

[johnnydeep]

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge

Explanation: Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

The "obscuring dust lanes" page got hung up and never displayed the larger image when I clicked on the pic on the linked page, but this page has the same image: https://esahubble.org/images/potw1228a/

And the "screen size" one is still impressively detailed. I'll ask Ann about all those nice blue dots: are they individual big blue newish stars or clusters?

Click to view full size image

Oh, and yes, per the remarkable post from AVAO above, the "needle" galaxy really does seem to have the "eye" - and a large one at that - in the exact center! BTW, does that red ring around the eye in IR signify dust?

A few clusters are obvious, as well as one association. Associations are more spread out than clusters.

There are other clusters and associations too. But the number of clusters and associations in NGC 4565 is relatively small.

Clusters and an association in NGC 4565 Hubble.png

Sco Cen association Akira Fuji David Malin.png

The Sco-Cen association. Credit: Akira Fuji

And yes, red means dust in Spitzer Space Telescope infrared images.

Ann

Thanks. But in all those clusters and associations, the point like blue dots are still individual blue stars, yes?

[Ann]

The "obscuring dust lanes" page got hung up and never displayed the larger image when I clicked on the pic on the linked page, but this page has the same image: https://esahubble.org/images/potw1228a/

And the "screen size" one is still impressively detailed. I'll ask Ann about all those nice blue dots: are they individual big blue newish stars or clusters?

Click to view full size image

Oh, and yes, per the remarkable post from AVAO above, the "needle" galaxy really does seem to have the "eye" - and a large one at that - in the exact center! BTW, does that red ring around the eye in IR signify dust?

A few clusters are obvious, as well as one association. Associations are more spread out than clusters.

There are other clusters and associations too. But the number of clusters and associations in NGC 4565 is relatively small.

Clusters and an association in NGC 4565 Hubble.png

Sco Cen association Akira Fuji David Malin.png

The Sco-Cen association. Credit: Akira Fuji

And yes, red means dust in Spitzer Space Telescope infrared images.

Ann

Thanks. But in all those clusters and associations, the blue point like blue dots are still individual blue stars, yes?

We certainly expect blue point sources in high-resolution pictures of galaxies to be stars.

You've got to remember that "individual" blue (and therefore massive) stars are usually multiple. As a rule of thumb, stars are more likely to be binaries or multiple stars the more massive they are. That's not to say that lower-mass stars can't be binaries or multiple star systems as well. They certainly can.

Massive (late O-type) star Sigma Orionis is at least quintuple:

Quintuple star Sigma Orionis (lower left). Source: Skyledge.net.

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But you can't see that Sigma Orionis is multiple in "normal" pictures of the Orion region:

Sigma Orionis (brightest star in the picture). Note the Horsehead Nebula at left. Also note that Struve 761 is not a part of the Sigma Orionis system, although it is most likely in orbit around it. Credit: Lithopsian

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And if you saw a wide field picture of tight massive cluster NGC 5471 near M101, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is just another star:

NGC 5471 which is orbiting M101. Credit: Pete_xl.

NGC 5471. Credit: SDSS/Donald Pelletier.

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At the distance of NGC 4565, it may be difficult to see if a blue dot is an individual (though perhaps multiple) star or a small tight cluster.

Ann

[johnnydeep]

Thanks, Ann.