Spiral Galaxy NGC 4402 in Virgo

This is a 10 minute exposure with an ST-9E CCD camera thru Kopernik's 20-inch F/8.1 Ritchey Chretien Cassegrain telescope. The field of view is about 8x8 arc minutes, with North at the top.

Quote from the Deep Sky Field Guide to Uranometria 2000:

"Strong, complex curved lanes."

Spiral galaxy NGC 4402 is a member of the Virgo group that is about 10 arc minutes north of giant Elliptical Galaxy M-86. E. Holmberg thought that NGC 4402 may be an irregular galaxy, but more modern observers consider it as a nearly edge-on spiral Galaxy. This galaxy was the host of Supernova 1976B, a Type Ib supernova that reached a maximum magnitude of 15.2.

• NGC 4402
• Magnitude: 12.8
• Constellation: Virgo
• RA: 12h 26m 07.9s
• Dec: +13° 06' 46" Epoch 2000
• Size (mins): 3.9' x 1.1'
• Classification: Sb
                          Spiral Galaxy
  
  

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George Normandin, KAS

June 24th, 2003