Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565 / Caldwell 38)
J2000 coordinates, TRGB distance (38.8 Mly), magnitude 9.56, 87-degree edge-on inclination, razor-sharp dust lane, and observing guide for NGC 4565.
Provenance-Backed Scientific Measurements
Every measurement below preserves its unit, uncertainty interval, observational method, reference epoch, quality status, and primary catalog source. See Uncertainty & Provenance for how competing measurements are handled.
| Parameter | Value | Uncertainty | Method & Epoch | Quality Status | Source Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated visual magnitude (V) | 9.56 mag | ± 0.08 mag | Integrated CCD aperture photometry | definitive | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
| Distance in light-years | 38800000 ly | ± 1300000 ly | HST GHOSTS Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB: 11.9 ± 0.4 Mpc) | definitive | SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant |
| Apparent major axis | 15.9 arcmin | ± 0.5 arcmin | Optical 25 mag/arcsec² isophotal dimensions (15.9′ × 1.85′ — nearly 9:1 aspect ratio) | definitive | Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) |
| Heliocentric recession velocity | 1230 km/s | ± 2 km/s | H I 21-cm synthesis rotation curve (v_max = 244 km/s) | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
J2000 Equatorial Sky Chart & Culmination Altitude
The chart below plots Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565 Edge-On Spiral) at RA 12h 36m 20.78s, Dec +25° 59′ 14.6″ within Coma Berenices, alongside peak meridian transit altitudes for 40°N and 30°S observers. Use the RA/Dec Coordinate Converter to compute exact culmination altitude for your latitude.
Astrophysical Context & Structure
Discovered by William Herschel on April 6, 1785, the Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565, Caldwell 38) is widely acclaimed as the finest edge-on spiral galaxy in the northern sky. Situated 38.8 million light-years away in the Coma I Cloud—just 1.5 degrees east of the North Galactic Pole in Coma Berenices, where our view out of the Milky Way is completely unobstructed by foreground dust—NGC 4565 is tilted 87.5 degrees from face-on, presenting an 8.6-to-1 needle-like profile spanning 15.9 × 1.85 arcminutes (~175,000 light-years in true diameter, larger than the Andromeda Galaxy).
Spitzer Space Telescope infrared photometry and Hubble imaging demonstrate that NGC 4565 is a striking structural analog to our own Milky Way: what appears optically as a central bulge is actually a 'boxy/peanut-shaped pseudobulge' formed by vertical buckling resonances in an edge-on stellar bar, with almost no classical merger-built spheroidal bulge.
Bisecting the entire length of NGC 4565's stellar disk and trimming the northeastern side of its golden central pseudobulge is a razor-sharp, opaque midplane lane of cold molecular gas and interstellar dust, while Westerbork 21-centimeter H I maps detect a slight upward warp at the northwestern tip of the disk toward its small satellite galaxy NGC 4562.
Practical Visual Observing Guide
- Located 1.8° east of the 5th-magnitude star 17 Comae Berenices in the Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111).
- Visible in 10×50 binoculars under dark skies and unmistakable in any 80–100 mm telescope at 60×–100× as a 15′-long silver javelin pointed NW–SE (PA 135°).
- In a 200–300 mm (8–12 inch) telescope at 120×–180×, the dark equatorial dust lane cuts cleanly across the glowing central bulge, while the 13.4-mag companion galaxy NGC 4562 is visible 13′ to the southwest.
Catalog Cross-Identifications & Aliases
Common Aliases: NGC 4565 · Needle Galaxy · Caldwell 38 · UGC 7772 · Berenice's Hair Clip
| Catalog Authority | Identifier |
|---|---|
| NGC | NGC 4565 |
| SIMBAD | NGC 4565 |
| WIKIDATA | Q502059 |
Related Objects, Comparisons & Guides
Silver Sliver Galaxy (NGC 891 Edge-On)
J2000 coordinates, TRGB distance (31.8 Mly), magnitude 9.93, 89-degree edge-on Milky Way twin, extraplanar dust, and observing guide for NGC 891.
Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104 / NGC 4594)
Coordinates, TRGB distance (9.55 Mpc / 31.1 Mly), edge-on dust lane, 1-billion-M☉ central black hole, and observing guide for M104.
Black Eye Galaxy (Messier 64 / NGC 4826)
J2000 coordinates, TRGB distance (17.3 Mly), magnitude 8.52, dark absorbing dust hood, counter-rotating gas disk, and observing guide for Messier 64.
Surface Brightness & Extended Objects Guide
Why surface brightness (mag/arcsec²) governs nebula and galaxy visibility more than integrated magnitude, and how exit pupil controls eyepiece contrast.
Angular Size, Separation & Field of View
How angular diameter (degrees, arcminutes, arcseconds), spherical angular separation, and small-angle physical diameter relate to telescope field of view.
Scientific Sources & Dataset Provenance
- Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue (RNGC/IC) (2024/2026 edition): Steinicke, W. 2010, Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters (Cambridge Univ. Press); Verga, M. OpenNGC (CC-BY-SA 4.0 / data tables) — Wolfgang Steinicke / OpenNGC
- SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant (2022 Baseline Cepheid + SN Ia): Riess, A. G., et al. 2022, ApJL, 934, L7 (A Comprehensive Measurement of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant) — SH0ES Collaboration (HST / JWST)
- SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) (2026-10 release): Wenger, M., et al. 2000, A&AS, 143, 9 (The SIMBAD astronomical database) — Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg