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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 bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other galaxies are included in the pretty field of view. Neighboring galaxy NGC 4562 is at the upper right. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant, spanning 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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What a lovely picture; thanks for sharing it!

APOD 2010 Mar 04 wrote:NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant...

APOD 2004 Apr 09 wrote:NGC 4565 is only about 30 million light-years distant...

SEDS wrote:Distance: 31,000 (kly)

NOAO wrote:some 49 million light years distant

Wikipedia wrote:NGC 4565 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 20 million light-years away...
...[the central bulge's] exponential shape suggests that it is a barred spiral galaxy.
Observation data: Distance: 53 ± 4 Mly (16.2 ± 1.3 Mpc)

Measuring distances seems to be very hard.

Agreed,
I'll hold this end of the measuring tape while you take the other end to the edge of that bad bouy and well settle this distance problem

Can't trust that shifty red-shift ....

Case wrote:Measuring distances seems to be very hard.

An edge on view makes the unobstructed magnitude determinations
(if not the very observations) of Cepheids, Type Ia Supernovae
and many other standard candles extremely difficult.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_candle wrote: