NGC 474

NGC 474 is an elliptical galaxy about 100 million light years distant in the constellation Pisces. This large galaxy is known to possess tidal shells and tidal tails, although their origins remain unclear. One possible explanation is that NGC 474 interacted with a galaxy several billion years ago.

 The origins of the spectacular tidal features around NGC 474 have been extensively studied, and some possible explanations have been published. The authors of one study argued that the tidal tails were formed because of a collision with a galaxy 2 billion years ago. The same study also stated that NGC 474 is absorbing gas from its neighbor, NGC 470, since the ancient collision.  In another model, the tidal shells can be explained by a gas-rich spiral galaxy colliding with NGC 474 twice, before finally merging. NGC 474 is moving away from the Sun at a rate of 2412 km/s due to dark energy.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click on Image for Higher Resolution

Date : September and October 2021

Location : Backridge Observatory, Spruce Knob, West Virginia

Equipment used :
 Lens or telescope -- Homemade 16" Newtonian with MPCC
 Mount -- AP 1200
 Camera -- QSI 683wsg with Lodestar 2x guider

Acquistion Software : ACP, MaxIm DL, Focusmax
Processing Software : PixInsight, Photoshop

Exposure Detail : Total hours 5.1   Synthetic LRGB