NGC 4656
NGC 4656, also known informally as the 'hockey stick galaxy', is a distorted edge-on spiral galaxy. Its distinctive shape is due to a recent gravitational interaction with the galaxy NGC 4631. It is not yet certain, but these two galaxies may be in the early stages of merging. The faint object in the upper-left corner may not be part of the galaxy, but instead be a dwarf galaxy in the process of merging with NGC 4656.
| Observatory: | Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak, Arizona |
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| Telescope: | KPNO 4-Meter |
| Instrument: | Mosaic I |
| Astronomer: | T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF) |
| Date of Observation: | 04-26-2008 |
| Filters and Assigned Colors: | B (blue), V (green), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) |
| Exposure Times: | 5x20min in B and H-alpha, 5x12min in V, 5x8min in I |
| Location of Image: | Canes Venatici |
| Field of View: | 13.3 x 17.6 arcmin |
| Orientation: | North is up, East is to the left |
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| Link to Full Resolution Image | |
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