Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  NGC 4627  ·  NGC 4631  ·  Whale Galaxy
The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631, Michael Vorbeck
The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631
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The Wale Galaxy - C13 - NGC 4631

The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631, Michael Vorbeck
The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631
Powered byPixInsight

The Wale Galaxy - C13 - NGC 4631

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Description

The Whale Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy located at an approximate distance of 30 million light years in the constellation Canes Venatici. It has an apparent magnitude of 9.8 and appears almost edge-on. It has been nicknamed the Whale because of its elongated, slightly triangular shape that resembles the profile of the whale. The galaxy has the designation NGC 4631 in the New General Catalogue.

The optical disk of NGC 4631 occupies an area of 15’.5 by 2’.7 of the apparent sky. The galaxy is interacting with a smaller companion, the dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 4627, which lies just to the north. NGC 4627 has an apparent magnitude of 13.1 and occupies an area of 2′.6 × 1′.8. The two galaxies were catalogued as Arp 281 in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. The American astronomer Halton Arp, who produced the Atlas in 1966, listed the pair as an example of a galaxy pair or a “double galaxy.” The smaller galaxy is often referred to as the Pup.

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  • The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631, Michael Vorbeck
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    The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631, Michael Vorbeck
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The Wale Galaxy - C13 -  NGC 4631, Michael Vorbeck