H-NGC4214
Galaxy in Canes Venatici
About
Canes Venatici holds this small starburst galaxy of barred irregular shape, roughly 10 million light-years away and belonging to the M94 Group. Two bright star-forming regions sit at its centre, and one contains a massive young cluster full of Wolf–Rayet stars. It outshines and outsizes the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Imaging tips
- At 2690–4490 mm on APS-C it fills a third to half of the frame at about 9×7′, so plan for a long focal length.
- Faint for its size at 22.8 mag/arcsec², so plan many hours of broadband data.
- One imager stacked 12 six-minute frames (72 minutes) through a light-pollution filter and recorded faint arm-like structure in the outskirts.
- Best around March and April; it peaks near 76° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 9′ × 7′
- Magnitude
- 9.7
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 15.4m, Dec +36° 20′
- Framing, APS-C
- 2690–4490 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- 76° from 50°N, 89° from 35°N