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Object of the Week May 10th, 2015 - NGC 4298 & NGC 4302
NGC 4298 & 4302
NGC 4298
UGC 7412
Coma Berenices
RA 12 21 33
DEC 14 36 11
Type: Galaxy SA(rs)c
Size: 3.0' x 1.8'
Mag: 11.3
NGC 4302
UGC7418
Coma Berenices
RA 12 21 42.4
DEC 14 35 39
Type: Galaxy SA(rs)c
Size: 5.8' x .7'
Mag: 11.6
And yet another discovery by William Herschel, this pair was discovered on April 8th, 1784. NGC 4298 and 4302 are a beautiful pair of spiral galaxies that show themselves at different position angles. Members of the Virgo Cluster, this pair lie not all that far from common showpiece objects such as M99, M98 & M100 just to name a few. Both objects lie in the constellation Coma Berenices at a distance of approximately 60M LY away. Redshift calculations show that these two objects are very close to one another, some reports claiming a core to core distance of only about 35,000 LY apart. Having such a relatively close gap leaves some astronomers scratching their heads about that claim as we do not see any apparent tidal interactions between the two.
NGC 4298, the brighter of the two but just barely, shows nearly face-on to us. Tightly wound arms prove to be rather difficult to discern visually even in the largest scopes. My notes, before knowing definitively this to be a spiral galaxy, show my ignorance as I called it "an obvious elliptical with stellar core" Visual details will amount to apparent mottling and knots throughout its disk as well as a field star superimposed 20" ENE from its core.
NGC 4302 is, to me, the prettier of the two as I just have an affinity for edge-ons. A well defined edge-on orientated N-S, displays a beautiful contrasting dark lane reminiscent of NGC891 . But don't be fooled, NGC4302 is rather dim and the dustlane can prove to be quite a challenge. Under better conditions and moderate to high power, mottling in the dust lane as well as wispy ends that disappear into the aether can be seen.
One interesting note, NGC 4302 is very similar dimensionally to the Milky Way. It has a very similar size, shape and density to our own galaxy. Placing our own Milky Way next to NGC4302 at 60M LY distant and looking back at both would make for a difficult challenge when asked "which is which?". Just something I found of interest.
Lastly, to the east of this pair lies 17th magntiude MAC 1221+1437 (LEDA 169144) if either of the above two galaxies prove to be just too easy! (wink wink)
Yes, both objects are fairly faint and can be a challenge. But don't be intimidated. I read one online report of both objects being visible in a 10" scope. It'll just take all of your skill to eek out all the possible detail this pair can offer. Finally, as its getting a little late in the season for Virgo, and this pair transits the local meridian rather early in the evening, this is a beautiful sight and should not be missed out on! Get it while you still can this year!
And as always....
"Give it a go and let us know!
Good luck and great viewing!"
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