Subaru Gallery
Subaru Gallery TOPWhale Galaxy (NGC 4631) and Hockey Stick Galaxy (NGC 4656)
August 14, 2024
Last updated: September 30, 2025
Last updated: September 30, 2025
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The Whale Galaxy, located in the Canes Venatici constellation, is a spiral galaxy smaller than the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy. The shapes of this galaxy and the Hockey Stick Galaxy, seen in the lower left from the Whale Galaxy, are distorted, indicating that the two galaxies are gravitationally interacting. These two galaxies are likely to merge into a larger galaxy. The Subaru Telescope’s Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), the ultra-wide field-of-view camera, successfully observed the two galaxies in one shot.
(Credit: NAOJ; Image provided by Masayuki Tanaka)
【Distance from Earth】About 25 million light-years
【Instrument】Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC)
The Whale Galaxy, located in the Canes Venatici constellation, is a spiral galaxy smaller than the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy. The shapes of this galaxy and the Hockey Stick Galaxy, seen in the lower left from the Whale Galaxy, are distorted, indicating that the two galaxies are gravitationally interacting. These two galaxies are likely to merge into a larger galaxy. The Subaru Telescope’s Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), the ultra-wide field-of-view camera, successfully observed the two galaxies in one shot.
(Credit: NAOJ; Image provided by Masayuki Tanaka)
【Distance from Earth】About 25 million light-years
【Instrument】Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC)
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