NGC 4565 is the largest and most impressive example of an "edge on" spiral galaxy. Spiral galaxies are shaped similarly to a plate, and in this case the plate is exactly parallel to our line of sight so all we see is the "edge." By contrast, a "face-on" spiral galaxy is perpendicular to our line of sight, and we see the galaxy as we would a plate on the floor beneath us. This galaxy is located 31 million light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. There are several other galaxies visible in this image, the most prominent of which is NGC 4562 to the lower right of NGC 4565.
Edge-on Galaxy NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices
Date Taken:April 4, 2014
Location Taken:New Mexico Skies Observatory
Conditions of Location: Equipment Used:Planewave 20" corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope, FLI PL11002M camera
Processing Used:12 x 5 minutes luminance, followed by 8 x 3 minutes of red, green, and blue, for a total exposure of 2.2 hours. Stacked and processed in Maxim DL and Photoshop.
Distance from Location:31 million light years
Constellation:Coma Berenices
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