NGC4725, A double barred, ringed galaxy in Coma Berenices (LHaRGB)
NGC4725, A double barred, Ringed Galaxy in Coma Berenices (LHaRGB)
Planewave CDK12.5; AP 1100GTO AE
ASI6200MM, - Antlia Pro Broadband & 3.5nm Ha filters
RGB: (16,15,17 x 180s, Bin 1, Gain 100)
L: (40x 150s, Bin 1, Gain 100)
Ha: (12 x420s, Bin 1, Gain 200)
Total integration time = 5.5 hrs (May 8 & 10 2024)
Poor weather resulted in a heavy culling of subframes on this target. Still, sufficient lum frames enable considerable detail to be brought out in the image. I am pretty happy with this image.
NGC4725 interested me because of my hypothesis of viscosity, condensation and Van der Waals forces at play in dust lanes and molecular clouds. The spirals are so tight in this galaxy that it essentially forms a ring around the “two bars” and the central massive black hole. There is a lot more dust (darker and in this galaxy and likely more condensed than most galaxies. Ha indicating star formation in the dust “ring” is evident, but only there weakly perhaps indicating that their radiation is being blotted out by the condensed matter in the dust lanes and clouds. Certainly a strong blue is suggesting lots of new stars.
I am only told that this galaxy has two bars. I would like to know if this forms a “spoked wheel” effect, or are two bars parallel and tanget to the central core. I can’t tell because I don’t see two bars.
Anyways, it is being a little bit bent out of shape by its neighbour, NGC474 shown in the lower right of the image. As a different hypothesis, perhaps this galaxy is causing some tidal effects that are influencing the shape and structure of NGC4725.