Herschel 269
NGC 4656
The Hockey Stick Galaxy

Object Type Galaxy Sb Pec
Constellation Canes Venatici
Magnitude 10.1
Size 15.3' x 2.4'


Combination of 5, 3 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.

The destinctive appearence that gives NGC 4656 its nickname "Hockey Stick" is clearly visible in the telescope. Although classified as an Sb galaxy, it clearly has pecularities. The destinctive kink in the northern arm and the way it is much brighter than the southern arm point to an encounter with another galaxy in the relatively recent past. Also very faintly visible in the image above, is an extension of the northern arm well beyond the kink and destinct from it. It has been speculated that it encountered the nearby NGC 4631.

Visual Observation Notes:- NGC 4656.

Long and thin with a definite bend at the northern end. Brighter centre.
18" f/5 newtonian. 16mm nagler eyepiece. 143x.
Sky View observatory. Zenith limiting magnitude 6.7.