Object Analysis

The Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565) is an edge-on spiral galaxy about 30 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is widely considered the finest example of an edge-on spiral galaxy in the night sky.

Because we see it strictly from the side, the galaxy appears as a thin, needle-like streak of light bisected by a prominent dark dust lane. The central bulge is relatively small and yellowish, dominated by older stars, while the thin disk is bluer.

NGC 4565 is larger than our Milky Way. Despite its brightness and prominence, it was missed by Charles Messier and thus does not have an "M" number. It is a favorite target for astrophotographers demonstrating the "thin disk" structure of spiral galaxies.