H-NGC4449
Galaxy in Canes Venatici
About
NGC 4449, an irregular starburst galaxy in Canes Venatici about 13 million light-years away. It forms stars at roughly twice the rate of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and two small galaxies are being pulled apart by it, leaving faint streams of stars. William Herschel found it in 1788; it is in the Herschel 400 list.
Imaging tips
- Only a few arcminutes across, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- A starburst irregular, so broadband is the base; one amateur image of 7.5 hours in total was HLRGB, so its hydrogen-alpha channel was part of those hours.
- Faint streams of stars from swallowed dwarf companions surround it; one amateur image used about 18 hours of luminance to show the stream.
- Best in March and April; it passes almost overhead (about 84°) from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 6′ × 4′
- Magnitude
- 9.6
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 28.2m, Dec +44° 6′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- 84° from 50°N, 81° from 35°N