The Canes II Group

The Canes II Group is a prominant group of galaxies 30 million light years away in Canes Venatici and it contains the large M106 galaxy. This group lies directly behind the Canes I group, and there are many groups of galaxies in this area of the sky which ultimately connect to the massive Virgo cluster fifty million light years away.

The Canes II Group

Below - three Canes II group galaxies. NGC 4096 (left) and NGC 4144 (centre) are two very similar spiral galaxies seen from different angles. NGC 4242 (right) is an irregular galaxy with a central bar and faint signs of spiral structure.

NGC 4096 NGC 4144 NGC 4242
NGC 4096 NGC 4144 NGC 4242

The Galaxies of the Canes II Group

This is a list of the main galaxies in the Canes II group. The Canes II group lies directly behind the Canes I group and it can be hard to determine which galaxies belong to which group. The two groups are probably connected so a precise boundary may be somewhat arbitary.

  1             2        3      4     5      6    7     8     9
Name           Equatorial      Blue  Type  Size Size   RV   Other
               Coordinates     Mag          (')  kly  km/s  Names
               RA       Dec
NGC 4096     12 06.0  +47 29   11.5  SBc    6.5   55   770
NGC 4144     12 10.0  +46 27   12.2  SBc    6.0   55   481
UGC 7267     12 15.4  +51 22   15.3  Sd     1.7   15   660
UGC 7271     12 15.6  +43 26   15.5  Sc     1.6   15   772
UGC 7298     12 16.5  +52 13   17?   Irr    1.3   10   354
UGC 7320     12 17.5  +44 49     ?   Sd     0.9   10   740
NGC 4242     12 17.5  +45 37   11.7  SBm    4.8   40   733
NGC 4248     12 17.8  +47 25   13.4  SBb    2.4   20   693
M106         12 19.0  +47 18    9.1  SBb   17.0  150   656  NGC 4258
UGC 7356     12 19.2  +47 05   15.8  Irr    0.9   10   480
NGC 4288     12 20.6  +46 18   13.4  SBc    2.2   20   746
UGC 7408     12 21.3  +45 49   13.4  Irr    2.6   20   675  DDO 120
UGC 7599     12 28.5  +37 14   14.9  Sm     1.9   15   527  DDO 127
UGC 7608     12 28.8  +43 14   13.7  Irr    3.5   30   760  DDO 129
NGC 4460     12 28.8  +44 52   12.8  S0     4.1   35   711
UGC 7639     12 29.9  +47 32   14.5  Irr    2.4   20   585
KK151        12 30.4  +42 54   16.5  Sc     1.1   10   660  PGC 41314
NGC 4485     12 30.5  +41 42   12.5  Irr    2.4   20   725
NGC 4490     12 30.6  +41 38   10.6  SBc    6.3   55   809
UGC 7678     12 32.0  +39 50   16.1  SB?    0.9   10   921
UGC 7690     12 32.4  +42 42   13.4  Irr    1.6   15   762
UGC 7699     12 32.8  +37 37   13.6  SBc    3.8   35   743
UGC 7719     12 34.0  +39 01   15.3  Sd     1.9   15   920
UGC 7751     12 35.1  +41 03   17.6  Irr    0.7    5   835
UGC 7774     12 36.4  +40 00   15.0  Sc     3.0   25   758
UGC 7827     12 39.7  +44 51   17?   Irr    1.2   10   765
NGC 4618     12 41.6  +41 09   11.4  SBd    4.4   40   771
NGC 4625     12 41.9  +41 16   13.1  SBm    2.1   20   837
UGC 7949     12 47.0  +36 29   15.1  Irr    1.9   15   578  DDO 147
NGC 4707     12 48.4  +51 10   13.4  Sm     2.2   20   646
Column 1: The usual name of the galaxy.
Column 2: The Right Ascension for epoch 2000.
Column 3: The Declination for epoch 2000.
Column 4: The blue apparent magnitude of the galaxy.
Column 5: The galaxy type: E=Elliptical, S0=Lenticular, Sa,Sb,Sc,Sd=Spiral,
          SBa,SBb,SBc,SBd=Barred Spiral, Sm,SBm,Irr=Irregular.
Column 6: The angular diameter of the galaxy (arcminutes).
Column 7: The diameter of the galaxy (thousands of light years).
Column 8: The recessional velocity (km/s) of the galaxy relative to
          the cosmic microwave background.
Column 9: Other names of the galaxy.

References:
Giuricin G, Marinoni C, Ceriani L, Pisani A, (2000), Nearby optical galaxies:
        selection of the sample and identification of groups. Astrophys J, 543, 178.
Garcia A, (1993), General study of group membership. II. Determination of nearby
        groups. Astron Astrophys Supp, 100, 47.
Fouqué P, Gourgoulhon E, Chamaraux P, Paturel G, (1992), Groups of Galaxies within
        80 Mpc, Astron and Astrophys Supp, 93, 211.
The HyperLeda Database, (2003).

Below - three more galaxies in the Canes II group. NGC 4288 (left) is a small barred-spiral galaxy. NGC 4460 (centre) is an excellent example of a lenticular (lens-shaped) galaxy seen almost edge on. NGC 4490 (right) is a spiral galaxy which has become distorted because of a close encounter with its companion galaxy NGC 4485 above it.

NGC 4288 NGC 4460 NGC 4490
NGC 4288 NGC 4460 NGC 4490

Shown below is M106 - the largest galaxy in the Canes II group although it probably lies at the front of the group. This galaxy is similar in scale to the Andromeda Galaxy. M106 is notable for its bright inner region and much fainter outer spiral arms.

M106
M106

Below - three more galaxies in the Canes II group. UGC 7699 (left) is a small barred-spiral galaxy. NGC 4618 (centre) and NGC 4625 (right) are spiral galaxies with only one spiral arm. These two galaxies are close companions and it is likely that a recent close encounter has left both galaxies looking very similar to each other.

UGC 7699 NGC 4618 NGC 4625
UGC 7699 NGC 4618 NGC 4625

Properties of the Canes II Group
Equatorial Coordinates RA=12h30m Dec=+43°
Galactic Coordinates l=135° b=+75°
Supergalactic Coordinates L=75° B=+5°
Distance to the centre of the group 30 million light years
Number of large galaxies in the group 9
The Virgo Supercluster Back to the Virgo Supercluster page