NGC-4565 is a spectacular edge-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It is easily located, being just 1.7 degrees east of the bright star 17 Comae. NGC-4565 lies at a distance of 39 million light years from Earth and is over 100,000 light years in diameter. Also shown in this image are neighboring galaxies NGC-4562, to the right, and smaller IC-3671, to the left. NGC-4565 was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1785. It is often called "The Needle Galaxy".
This image, acquired on May 4, 2014, is a 1 hour 30 minute integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera, operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.