This beautiful trio of galaxies is in the area of the constellation Coma Berenices. NGC 4725 (center) and NGC 4747 (lower right) are neighbours at a distance of 45 to 57 million and 40 to 56 million light-years respectively. Galaxy NGC 4712, at the upper left, is in the background… about 207 million light-years away. Tidal interaction with supergiant spiral NGC 4725, is the generally accepted cause for the severe distortion of the smaller NGC 4747 galaxy. This interaction has given NGC 4747 three tidal tails, two large ones at the lower right and a smaller one at the opposite end of the galaxy. The direction of these three plumes trace directly towards NGC 4725. NGC 4725 has its own peculiarities. While most spiral galaxies have two or more arms, NGC 4725 seems to have only one. NGC 4725 is a Seyfert Galaxy, suggesting an active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole.
NGC4725 and companions NGC4712 (L) and NGC4747 (R)
Telescope: 16″ f3.75 Dream Scope
Camera: FLI ML16803
Mount: ASA DDM85
Exposure: 9 hours (36x300s L + 3x24x300s RGB)
Date: March – April 2018
Location: Southern Alps, France
NGC4725 and surroundings
Bart Delsaert - Astrophotography 