NGC 4631 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici about 30 million light years away from Earth. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname. Because this nearby galaxy is seen edge-on from Earth, professional astronomers observe this galaxy to better understand the gas and stars located outside the plane of the galaxy.
Centaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance. NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target. It is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a peculiar galaxy of unclear classification in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 9.55 megaparsecs from the Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. It has an isophotal diameter of approximately 29.09 to 32.32 kiloparsecs, making it slightly bigger in size than the Milky Way.
NGC 5866 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco. NGC 5866 was most likely discovered by Pierre Méchain or Charles Messier in 1781, and independently found by William Herschel in 1788. Measured orbital velocities of its globular cluster system imply that dark matter makes up only 34±45% of the mass within 5 effective radii, a notable paucity.
NGC 3227 is an intermediate spiral galaxy that is interacting with the dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 3226. The two galaxies are one of several examples of a spiral with a dwarf elliptical companion that are listed in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Both galaxies may be found in the constellation Leo. It is a member of the NGC 3227 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Leo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the right edge of the Virgo Supercluster.
NGC 520 is a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 105 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. They were discovered by astronomer William Herschel on 13 December 1784.
NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 80 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. Both galaxies were discovered by John Herschel in 1835.
NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.
NGC 4261 is an elliptical galaxy located around 100 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered April 13, 1784, by the German-born astronomer William Herschel. The galaxy is a member of its own somewhat meager galaxy group known as the NGC 4261 group, which is part of the Virgo Cluster.
NGC 1808 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Columba, about two degrees to the south and east of Gamma Caeli. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, who described it as a "faint nebula". The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1808 group, which is part of the larger Dorado Group.
NGC 922 is a peculiar galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax, located at a distance of 142 Mly from the Milky Way. It is one of the nearest known collisional galaxies. This object was described by the Herschels as "considerably faint, pretty large, round, gradually pretty much brighter middle." The general form is described by the morphological classification of SB(s)cd pec, which indicates a peculiar (pec) barred spiral galaxy (SB) with no inner ring system around the bar (s) and loosely-wound spiral arms (cd).
NGC 4203 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a lenticular galaxy in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered on March 20, 1787 by English astronomer William Herschel, and is situated 5.5° to the northwest of the 4th magnitude star Gamma Comae Berenices and can be viewed with a small telescope. The morphological classification of NGC 4203 is SAB0−, indicating that it has a lenticular form with tightly wound spiral arms and a weak bar structure at the nucleus.
NGC 1614 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Eridanus. It was discovered on December 29, 1885 by American astronomer Lewis Swift, who described it in a shorthand notation as: pretty faint, small, round, a little brighter middle. The nebula was then catalogued by Danish-Irish astronomer J. L. E. Drayer in 1888. When direct photography became available, it was noted that this galaxy displayed some conspicuous peculiarities. American astronomer Halton Arp included it in his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. In 1971, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky described it as a "blue post-eruptive galaxy, compact patchy core, spiral plumes, long blue jet SSW".
NGC 7469 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Pegasus. NGC 7469 is located about 200 million light-years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 7469 is approximately 90,000 light-years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 12, 1784.
NGC 5846 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of circa 90 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5846 is about 110,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 24, 1786. It lies near 110 Virginis and is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue. It is a member of the NGC 5846 Group of galaxies, itself one of the Virgo III Groups strung out to the east of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.
NGC 4302 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.
NGC 1142 is a distorted spiral galaxy in the constellation of Cetus. It is located about 370 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 1142 is approximately 170,000 light years across. It is a type 2 Seyfert galaxy. It interacts with the elliptical galaxy NGC 1141.
NGC 5728 is an active barred spiral galaxy located 146 million light years away in the southern constellation of Libra. It was discovered on May 7, 1787 by William Herschel. The designation comes from the New General Catalogue of J. L. E. Dreyer, published in 1888. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 13.40 and spans an angle of 3.4 arcminutes. The galaxy shows a red shift of 0.00935 and has a heliocentric radial velocity of 2,803 km/s. It has an estimated mass of 72 billion times the mass of the Sun and stretches around 30 kpc across.
NGC 3175 is a spiral galaxy located in the far eastern part of the southern constellation of Antlia at an approximate distance of 54 million light-years. NGC 3175 was discovered on March 30, 1835 by English astronomer John Herschel, whose notes described it as, "considerably bright, large, much extended NE-SW, very gradually little brighter middle". This galaxy is the namesake of the NGC 3175 group of galaxies, which includes the spiral galaxy NGC 3137.
NGC 3656 is a peculiar galaxy formed by the collision of two galaxies in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is located about 135 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 3656 is approximately 70,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789.
