Astr112 Photography Projects, Spring 2006

NGC 4731, Matthew VanderWindt

A galaxy is a large collection of stars, gas and dust, and plasma that is held together by gravity. The diameter of a galaxy ranges from a thousand light years to many hundred thousand light years. The average galaxy has, in addition to stars and interstellar medium, multiple star clusters, star clusters, and nebulae. This galaxy is an estimated distance of 65 million light years away. It is on the opposite side of the Virgo Cluster.

The NGC 4731 galaxy is an irregular galaxy that is being pulled slightly due to the gravitation of NGC 4697 (the closest galaxy to it). While it is a irregular galaxy, it is very close to being a bar galaxy. The arms that are attached to it are slightly bent (again, due to the slight gravitational pull of NGC 4697). The linear size of the object is 26,000 light years across. The colour of the object is an opaque blue.

References:
"NGC 4731." basic information. 20 Feb. 2002. NOAO. 9 May 2006 <http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n4731.html>.

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy." Wikipedia . 2 May 2006. Wikipedia. 9 May 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy>.