Subj : Stargazing News - April 28th, 2024
To   : All
From : CJ
Date : Sat Apr 27 2024 06:25:10

Sunday, April 28, 2024

The Cocoon Galaxy (all night)

NGC 4490, also known as the Cocoon Galaxy, is a small, but relatively bright 
magnitude 9.8 galaxy located 39 arc-minutes northwest of the star Chara 
(Beta Canum Venaticorum or á CVn), the fainter of the Hunting Dogs' two main 
stars. Center your finder on the bright star and use a low magnification 
eyepiece to look for the galaxy. Owing to gravitational attraction with a 
small companion galaxy NGC 4485 just north of its western end, the Cocoon 
is tadpole-shaped - with a tapered tail that points away from Chara. A small 
field star shines at the tadpole's mouth. Smaller telescopes will show NGC 
4490's bright core within a wide oval halo that spans 5x2 arc-minutes. 
Larger aperture telescopes will better reveal its distorted shape, some 
internal clumping, and the companion galaxy.

(Data courtesy of Starry Night)
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 * Origin: CJ's Place, Orange City FL > cjsplace.thruhere.net (954:895/61)

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