NGC 4631: The Whale

Click on image for larger version.


 NGC 4631 (The Whale Galaxy) is an enormous Sc type spiral galaxy seen edge-on. The galaxy is apparently distorted slightly due to the companion galaxy, NGC 4627. The pair together are included in the Arp Catalog of Peculiar galaxies as ARP 281. This group of galaxies is between 25-30 million light years away. Note in the most recent image (top) the faint tidal tails between these two galaxies can be seen.

Out of the field of view to the southeast (down and left in these images) is the companion galaxy NGC 4656, which shows significant distortions, apparently due to tidal interactions with NGC 4631; detailed surveys of the region have shown that a tenuous bridge of hydrogen gas connects the two, indicating this past history of interaction.

Equipment

(TOP IMAGE)
20in RC Optical Systems telescope operating at f/8.4
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel< p> (BOTTOM IMAGE)
Meade 16in LX200 telescope operating at f/10 (below)
SBIG ST8E CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

(These values are for the top image)

Luminance = 105 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Green = 20 minutes binned 2x2
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 2x2
  • One iteration of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp was applied to the luminance image.

  • Digital Development (DDP) via Maxim/DL was also used in order to display the the very dim and very bright details of the image simultaneously.

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    Minimum credit line: John Vickery and Jim Matthes/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF (top image)
    Diane Zeiders and Jim Brooke/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF (bottom image)

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    Updated: 3/01/2004