| Description | NGC 2442 and NGC 2443 are two parts of a single intermediate spiral galaxy, commonly known as the Meathook Galaxy or the Cobra and Mouse. It is about 50 million light-years away in the constellation Volans. It was discovered by Sir John Herschel on December 23, 1834 during his survey of southern skies with a 18.25 inch diameter reflecting telescope (his “20-foot telescope”) from an observatory he set up in Cape Town, South Africa. Associated with this galaxy is HIPASS J0731-69, a cloud of gas devoid of any stars. It is likely that the cloud was torn loose from NGC 2442 by a companion. |
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| Data/Processing Attribution | Data was purchased from Telescope Live and I did its processing only. |
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| Distances/Size | Distance to the object- 50 million light years; angular size in the sky is about 5.5’ X 4.9’ (minutes); size of the galaxy is about 160,000 light years in diameter |
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| Equipment | Mount-Mathis MI-1000/1250; Scope- Planewave CDK24, 6100 mm aperture, 3962mm focal length; Camera- QHY600 M Pro, 0.62 arcsec/pixel. |
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| Observatory | Telescope Live, El Sauce Observatory, Chile. |
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| Exposure | LRGB filters, total exposure- 9 hours 40 min. |
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