This lovely galaxy lies between 23 and 34 million light years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. At this distance, it is a close neighbor (for a galaxy) of M51. I've always been fascinated with this galaxy because images show the relatively straight dark lane cutting through what is in this image the lower part of the galaxy. I've always suspected that a smaller galaxy was combining with this one. I suspected this even more strongly when I saw in some images a ribbon of light in the same line as the dark lane that was clearly part of this system but was located somewhat away from the galaxy. I can see this feature in my data, but it was too faint and noisy to leave in the color version. Here is a version of my data in black and white, inverted, with contrast maximized. You can see the ribbon of light on the bottom right under the second-brightest star in the image. There may be a faint line of light stretching from the dark lane to the ribbon.
After seeing this in others' images, I strongly suspected there was more to the story, so I was pleased when Jay GaBany and others produced this very deep image (
here) of the galaxy showing loops and streamers all around it from smaller galaxies falling into the larger one.
Telescope: Orion 10" f/4.7 Newtonian
Camera & Exposure: SXVF-H9C, 27x10'
Coma Corrector: Baader RCC I
Filter: IDAS-LPS2
Guiding: Orion Deluxe OAG, Meade DSI Pro, PHD
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX
