Astronomy

62 ASTRONOMY • APRIL 2018

the tilt con-
founds attempts
to see the spiral
structure
visually.
Finally, we have NGC 3628. Although
Messier missed it when he cataloged the
others, this edge-on spiral system can be
seen through most amateur telescopes —
but with difficulty. The problem is caused
in large part by its edge-on orientation,
which lowers the overall surface brightness.
Its long, thin disk shines at about 10th
magnitude and measures 10 times as long
as it does wide in photographs. Like many
sideways spirals, NGC 3628 is bisected by a
prominent dust lane that passes through
the central core and along the outer edge of
the spiral-arm disk.
Our next galaxy, the Black Eye Galaxy
(M64), lies among the faint stars of Coma
Berenices. That can make zeroing in on it
difficult without relying on GoTo technol-
ogy, but here’s how I starhop to it: Begin at
Arcturus in Boötes and head west for 16° to
4th-magnitude Alpha (α) Comae. From
there, turn to the northwest for 5° to 35
Comae. M64 is just a degree northeast.
Smaller backyard telescopes will show
an oval glow with a noticeably off-center
nucleus. A careful look through a 4-inch or
larger telescope at about 100x will reveal a
band of obscuring dust wrapping around
the galaxy’s core. It’s that lane of dust that
gives rise to M64’s nickname. Use averted
vision if you have trouble seeing the dark
band directly.

Discovered by

William Herschel in 1785,

NGC 4565 in Coma

Berenices is one of the sky’s

most impressive examples

of an edge-on spiral galaxy.

It’s also fairly easy to locate

using the binary star

17 Comae as a guide.

NGC 4565 is just to

17 Com’s east, in

the same field of

low-power

eyepieces.

NGC 4565 is

barely visible

through 10x50

binoculars as a

faint spindle of

light. Doubling

those numbers

lets me just

barely make out

the bulge of its

central hub,

which is so

striking in photos. But swing my 10-inch

its way, and the view takes on an exciting

dimension. NGC 4565 looks like a pencil-

thin spindle of 9th-magnitude grayish light

measuring maybe five or six times as long

as it is wide. The central bulge of the core is

distinct at this aperture. Averted vision

also reveals the characteristic dark lane

that cuts across the edge of the spiral-arm

halo. Try 100x to 150x for the best view.

Looking for more galaxies? All you have

to do is aim between Denebola [Beta (β)

Leonis] and Vindemiatrix [Epsilon (ε)

Virginis] to find a bunch. That’s because

you’ve aimed toward the Coma-Virgo

Realm of Galaxies. Messier cataloged 16

galaxies here, but that’s not even the tip of

this galactic iceberg! As many as 2,000 gal-

axies belong to this extended family.

One of the brightest members of the

cluster is M87, an elliptical supergalaxy

thought to contain 1 trillion stars. There is

more to M87 than just stars, however.

In 1918, Heber Curtis of Lick

Observatory discovered a strange jet of

luminous material bursting from M87’s

core. Later observations revealed that the

galaxy is also strong emitter of radio and

x-ray radiation, cross-cataloging it as the

radio source known as Virgo A.

NGC 4565 in Coma

Berenices is famous as

perhaps the sky’s best

and brightest edge-on

galaxy. ADAM BLOCK/MOUNT

LEMMON SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY

OF ARIZONA

The dominant elliptical

galaxy in the Virgo

Cluster, M87, has a

supermassive black

hole in its center and

a tiny jet of material

shooting outward

from it. This is too

dim to see visually in

scopes, but is visible

just above and to the

right of the galaxy’s

center in this image.

ADAM BLOCK/MOUNT LEMMON

SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA