Deep Sky Object in Spring
NGC4676 (The Mice in Coma Berenices)


Date & Time: Feb 1 2020, from 26:17 to 27:11 JST(+0900)
Composed 10 shots with 6 minutes exposed
Optical: Meade 25cm(10") Schmidt-Cassegrain with conversion lens (f=1600mm, F6.3)
with BaaderPlanetarium Moon&Skyglow filter
Auto-guided with Meade LX200 Equatorial & Lacerta M-GEN
Digital Camera: Nikon D810A
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(4080×4080)
Device Size...10×10mm
Sensitivity...ISO4000, White Balance...Daylight


NGC4676A / Galaxy, type S0 pec?
R.A.12h 46m 10.6s (2000.0)
Dec.+30° 44' 39" (2000.0)
Apparent Size2.3×0.7'
Radial Velocity+6649km/s
Magnitude13.8
Distance300 million light yrs.
Group of GalaxiesN/A
Other IDsIC 819, UGC 7938
Arp 242, MCG +5-30-76
PGC 43062
NGC4676B / Galaxy, type SB(s)0/a pec
R.A.12h 46m 10.4s (2000.0)
Dec.+30° 42' 34" (2000.0)
Apparent Size2.2×0.8'
Radial Velocity+6549km/s
Magnitude14.0
Distance300 million light yrs.
Group of GalaxiesN/A
Other IDsIC 820, UGC 7939
MCG +5-30-77, PGC 43065
IRAS 12437+3059
This picture shows you a extraordinary small-scaled colliding galactic pair concealed near a border of Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici. The pair has a brightness of at most 14th magnitude, it's fairly difficult object to catch in amateur telescopes. An upper one has a number of NGC4676A and lower galaxy is called NGC4676B.
This pair has a nickname of "The Mice" because they have unique structures looks like long mouse's tail influenced by collided interactions. Especially a long and straight tail stretching toward north has an apparent length of 1.5 arc minutes, equivalent to about 100 or 150 thousand light years in real length. I have displayed a clear image of The Mice by Hubble Space Telescope (HST) below; you can appreciate detailed structure of tails. It's estimated that the unique pair is floating in outer space about 300 millions light years away.
The Mice captured by HST The Mice captured by HST
© STScI-HST




Around NGC4666
NGC4689

Copyright(c) 2020 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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