Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemispheres. Its name means "Berenice's Hair" in Latin and refers to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair as a votive offering. It was introduced to Western astronomy during the third century BC by Conon of Samos and was further corroborated as a constellation by Gerardus Mercator and Tycho Brahe. It is the only modern constellation named for a historic person.
Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 23 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects in March 1781.
The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is 7.22 megaparsecs away and 23.58 kiloparsecs (76,900 ly) in diameter.
NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.
NGC 7331, also known as Caldwell 30, is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 40 million light-years (12 Mpc) away in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. NGC 7331 is the brightest galaxy in the field of a visual grouping known as the NGC 7331 Group of galaxies. In fact, the other members of the group, NGC 7335, 7336, 7337 and 7340, lie far in the background at distances of approximately 300-350 million light years.
NGC 1532, also known as Haley's Coronet, is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy located approximately 50 million light-years from the Solar System in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop on 29 October 1826.
NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy about 45 million light years away in the constellation Fornax. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 October 1790. It is a severely interacting galaxy with obvious tidal debris and distortions caused by interaction with the companion galaxy NGC 1097A.
NGC 2841 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. It was discovered on 9 March 1788 by German-born astronomer William Herschel. J. L. E. Dreyer, the author of the New General Catalogue, described it as, "very bright, large, very much extended 151°, very suddenly much brighter middle equal to 10th magnitude star". Initially thought to be about 30 million light-years distant, a 2001 Hubble Space Telescope survey of the galaxy's Cepheid variables determined its distance to be approximately 14.1 megaparsecs or 46 million light-years. The optical size of the galaxy is 8.1′ × 3.5′.
NGC 3310 is a grand design spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It is a starburst galaxy and it is likely that NGC 3310 collided with one of its satellite galaxies about 100 million years ago, triggering widespread star formation. It is thought to be located approximately 46 million light-years away from the Earth, and is thought to be about 22,000 light-years wide.
NGC 4088 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy forms a physical pair with NGC 4085, which is located 11′ away.
NGC 4945 (also known as Caldwell 83) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Centaurus, visible near the star Xi Centauri. The galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826 and is thought to be similar to the Milky Way Galaxy, although X-ray observations show that NGC 4945 has an unusual energetic Seyfert 2 nucleus that might house a supermassive black hole. Around the nucleus of the galaxy, there is a dense disk of dust and gas, along with many dense star clusters. This object has an estimated mass of 1.4+1.4
−0.7×1011 M☉.
NGC 5033 is an inclined spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. Distance estimates vary from between 38 and 60 million light years from the Milky Way. The galaxy has a very bright nucleus and a relatively faint disk. Significant warping is visible in the southern half of the disk. The galaxy's relatively large angular size and relatively high surface brightness make it an object that can be viewed and imaged by amateur astronomers. The galaxy's location relatively near Earth and its active galactic nucleus make it a commonly studied object for professional astronomers.
NGC 2535 is an unbarred spiral galaxy exhibiting a weak inner ring structure around the nucleus in the constellation Cancer that is interacting with NGC 2536. The interaction has warped the disk and spiral arms of NGC 2535, producing an elongated structure, visible at ultraviolet wavelengths, that contain many bright, recently formed blue star clusters in addition to enhanced star forming regions around the galaxy center. The two galaxies are listed together in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as an example of a spiral galaxy with a high surface brightness companion.
NGC 524 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is at a distance of about 90 million light-years away from Earth. In the central bulge of the galaxy is visible gas forming a spiral structure. It is the largest galaxy in the small NGC 524 group of galaxies, which is associated with NGC 488 and its group. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786.
NGC 908 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered in 1786 by William Herschel. This galaxy is 56 million light years away from Earth. It is the main galaxy in the NGC 908 group, which also includes NGC 899, NGC 907, and IC 223.
NGC 214 is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Andromeda, located at a distance of 194 megalight-years from the Milky Way. It was discovered on September 10, 1784 by William Herschel. The shape of this galaxy is given by its morphological classification of SABbc, which indicates a weak bar-like structure (SAB) at the core and moderate to loosely-wound spiral arms (bc).
NGC 3506 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo. It is located at a distance of circa 300 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3506 is about 115,000 light years across. The galaxy has two main spiral arms, with high surface brightness, which can be traced for half a revolution before they fade. One arm splits into four spiral arcs.
NGC 7083 is an unbarred spiral galaxy located about 134 million light-years away in the constellation of Indus. It is also classified as a flocculent spiral galaxy. NGC 7083 was discovered by astronomer James Dunlop on August 28, 1826.
NGC 3810 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It is about 50 million light years from Earth, and estimated to be about 60,000 light years in diameter. William Herschel discovered it on 15 March 1784.
NGC 819 is a spiral galaxy approximately 302 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Triangulum. It forms a visual pair with the galaxy NGC 816 5.7' WNW.
