Space and Astronomy Atlas

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Celestial Objects

Caldwell 32

Galaxies

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Caldwell 32, also known as the Whale Galaxy or NGC 4631, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici seen nearly edge-on, discovered by William Herschel in 1787. It lies roughly 25 to 30 million light-years from Earth and takes its popular name from its elongated, curved silhouette, which is distorted by gravitational interaction with its smaller companion galaxy, NGC 4627.

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