2020-05-01_Astronomy

60 ASTRONOMY • MAY 2020

T

he first target, NGC 4111, lies near

the border between Canes Venatici

and Ursa Major. This small but

fascinating edge-on lenticular galaxy lies

about 1° due east of 67 UMa. It cuts a fine

line against the night sky. A dark dust lane

runs perpendicular to the galaxy’s plane,

causing a dramatic decrease in brightness

between the edge of the bulge and the

beginning of the disk. Use at least 100x

to see its bright starlike core, eye-shaped

bulge, and hyperfine needlelike disk, ori-

ented west-northwest to east-southeast.

Next, thread your way about 1.5°

northeast of 14 Canum Venaticorum for

the amazing f locculent galaxy NGC

5033. Visible with averted vision in

10x50 binoculars, this 10th-magnitude

marvel is the visual twin of NGC 5005,

which lies 0.5° to the northwest. This

5'-long lens-shaped object becomes

increasingly more compressed toward its

highly condensed core, a result of the

galaxy swallowing a companion some-

time in the distant past.

Our third target in the third section is

the Silver Needle Galaxy (NGC 4244),

which glows at magnitude 10.5 about 4½°

southwest of Chara (Beta [β] CVn). This

galaxy’s exactly edge-on disk (15.5' by

1.5') is devoid of a strong central bulge,

but it does display a small central con-

centration. The galaxy orients northeast

to southwest and, through a 4-inch scope

at 75x, is a compelling ghostly ellipse

with an uncanny sharpness to the gal-

axy’s slender shape.

Last but not least in this section, NGC

4414 is another superb f locculent spiral

about 3° north of Gamma Comae

Berenices. The 10th-magnitude galaxy’s

4.5'-by-3' disk has a relatively high sur-

face brightness and makes a good target

for small-telescope users, even under

suburban skies. A 5-inch instrument at

a magnification of 100x will reveal the

inner lens. This feature appears mottled

along the major axis, and the outer lens

has hints of knotty enhancements along

what appears to be a spiral pattern,

although nothing is connected.

SECTION 3

Our third section lies in two small northern constellations, Canes Venatici and Coma Berenices.

BERNARD MILLER

NGC 5033

HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (AURA/STSCI/NASA/ESA)

NGC 4414

JOE NAUGHTON/STEVE STAFFORD/ADAM BLOCK/NOAO/AURA/NSF

NGC 4244

ESA/HUBBLE/NASA/JUDY SCHMIDT

NGC 4111