Needle Galaxy (RGB)

The Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565) is an edge-on spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. According to Wikipedia it is 30 to 50 million light years away The smaller galaxy to the upper left might be a satellite galaxy or just a more distant background galaxy. It isn’t obvious from the image and the reference material I looked at only mentioned that it had satellite galaxies but not what their catalog numbers were.

Photographically, the prominent dustpan had the central bulge make for a distinctive look. And speaking of looking, there are lots of small galaxies scattered throughout the frame to test your eyes on.

For all the technical details, see astrobin.

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