NGC 4535

Lost Galaxy, UGC 7727

Virgo

RA: 12 34 20
DEC: +08 11 53

Size: 7.1’ x 5.0’

Mag: 9.9

Class: SAB(s)c



Originally discovered by William Herschel in 1785, NGC 4535 is a gorgeous, albeit low surface brightness barred spiral in Virgo. The moniker "Lost Galaxy" was given it by Leland S. Copeland in his 1955 S&T article Adventuring in the Virgo Cloud. In his article, Copeland refers to the galaxy as he describes his jaunt thru the Virgo Cluster using his 8" Cave reflector. He states, "North of the Diamond is a very dim spiral, here called the Lost Galaxy, NGC 4535." Leland was probably referring to NGC4535s difficulty to locate due to its inherently low surface brightness. Copeland also claims that NGC4535's "delicate structure shows only on long exposure photographs". Probably limited by the equipment he had during his time, today we know this to not be entirely true, especially when it comes to today's monster dobs. But please don't be discouraged by what Copeland saw. Go out and give it a shot. There are reports of observers with scopes as modest as 15" seeing the famous "S" shape.

On an interested side note, published in 1999 and detailed in the paper The Extra-galactic Distance Scale Key Project. XVIII. The Discovery of Cepheids and a New Distance to NGC 4535 Using the Hubble Space Telescope, L. M. Macri et al, a study with the intent to measure the Hubble constant to an accuracy of 10% was conducted. During the summer of 1996 while using the WFPC2 camera of the HST measurements of 18 galaxies was conducted, one of which was NGC 4535. 50 Cepheid Variables were discovered in NGC4535 which were then measured to place the distance to NGC4535 from us at 16.0 +/- 1.9Mpc or 52,186,135.1 light years. This distance places NGC4535 squarely in agreement with other Virgo Cluster members.

NGC4535 can be a relatively difficult object to discern detail out of. Not unlike M101, where the objects magnitude can be misleading, NGC4535 really does need some decent enough sky conditions with moderate aperture to eek out the most possible detail. Below are some of my past, albeit inadequate, notes:

25" f/5
April 30th 2011 S 3/5 T 4/5 At 350x S shape visible direct. pops for me with averted vision. Many foreground stars are visible giving the view a slight 3D effect. Great object! 2 prominent arms visible

I most recently looked at NGC4535 this year at TSP with Jimi and German forum members, Uwe, Marc and Frank.
48" f/4 488x S shape direct vision 100% of the time. Looks fantastic! Can make out a small segment of a 3rd arm that comes off the core. Everybody else confirmed.

I've included an image below with that 3rd 'arm' highlighted. I'll definitely have to revisit this object now to see if it would be visible in my scope. My previous notes don't refer to this 3rd 'arm'.

If you've never before seen NGC4535, it is a fantastic object that should be on your agenda this spring. Don't let the low surface brightness deter you. If you have seen it before, please be sure to revisit it the next time you're out. I know you won't be disappointed.


And remember,

"Give it a go and let us know!"

Good luck and great viewing!

4535_1.jpg 4535_2.JPG