NGC 4371: Spiral Galaxy (Virgo) RA: 12h 24.9m / DEC: +11° 42'.3 Instrument: 10-inch Starfinder |
It's easy to get lost in downtown Virgo. There are literally hundreds of galaxies within reach of a moderate aperture telescope. And they're packed into an area just a few degrees square. NGC 4371 resides 1.2 degrees due south of M84 and M86. This 10.8 magnitude spiral galaxy is aligned east-to-west across a 3'x1' area. It features a stellar core embedded within a brigher core region, which is rotated nearly 90-degrees with respect to the major axis of the galaxy. Digital Sky Survey images reveal a distinct bar feature. My sketch, based on a 190X view in the 10-inch Newtonian, includes three 12th and 13th magnitude stars as framework for NGC 4371. |
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