H-NGC4494
Galaxy in Coma Berenices
About
An elliptical galaxy in Coma Berenices, about 45 million light-years away. Hubble has found a symmetric ring of dust around its nucleus, and it is unusually faint in X-rays. William Herschel found it in 1785, and it is in the Herschel 400.
Imaging tips
- Only about 5×4′, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- Surface brightness is 21.7 mag/arcsec², and it is an elliptical, so use broadband data.
- The Needle Galaxy NGC 4565 heads a group that also lists this galaxy, so a wider field could hold both.
- Best around March and April; it peaks near 66° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 5′ × 4′
- Magnitude
- 9.8
- Coordinates
- RA 12h 31.4m, Dec +25° 47′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Mar, Apr
- Peak altitude
- 66° from 50°N, 81° from 35°N