Oct 1, 2025
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Claire Bradshaw
seen from United States
seen from Austria
seen from Singapore
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from United States
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Claire Bradshaw
The Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631, large) and NGC 4627 (small) // ANDREJ Petrovcic
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Lance Kannard
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Tom Bash
The Whale Galaxy (NGC 4631, left) and the Crowbar Galaxy (NGC 4656, right) // Philippe Rocaboy
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Thomas Gaffney
The Whale Galaxy, C32 // Brian Diaz
This barred spiral galaxy is located about 30 million light years away in the direction of Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. One of the many Caldwell objects discovered by William Herschel (1738-1822), the galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a whale, thus the nickname "The Whale Galaxy" (NGC 4631).
The Whale Galaxy has a nearby dwarf elliptical companion galaxy, NGC 4627. The two are interacting, with the companion only 25,000 light years away from the Whale Galaxy.
The Whale Galaxy, NGC 4631 // Marcel Noordman