Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565)

Object Type: Spiral Galaxy
Scope: C-14" SCT; Exposure 60 minutes.

NGC 4565, the Needle Galaxy, is a spectacular edge-on spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, roughly 30-50 million light-years away, presenting a thin sliver of a disk crossed by a dramatic dust lane. It sits near the North Galactic Pole, perpendicular to the plane of our own Milky Way. First recorded by William Herschel in 1785, it is one of the most famous edge-on spirals in the sky and is often called a masterpiece that Messier missed.