Apparent size 1.5 by 0.6 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 492) of the Virgo Cluster.

(The identification of NGC 4301 was long in question, PGC 39951 having been given that designation for most of its history; but the identification listed here is now considered essentially certain. However, the historical discussion is relatively complex, and will therefore be put off until the next iteration of this page.) Apparent size 1.6 by 1.3 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 552) of the Virgo Cluster. Often called NGC 4303A since in the general area of NGC 4303 (= M61), and its long history of misidentification.

Apparent size 1.4 by 0.5 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 0482) of the Virgo Cluster.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 4302 (= GC 2877 = JH 1199 = WH II 112, 1860 RA 12 14 35, NPD 74 37.2) is "large, very much extended 177°, eastern of 2", the other being NGC 4298. The position precesses to RA 12 21 41.3, Dec +14 36 11, only 0.3 arcmin northwest of the nucleus of the galaxy listed above and on its western outline, and the description is a perfect fit (including the reference to the other galaxy), so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 1150 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 4302 is about 50 to 55 million light years away, in good agreement with widely varying redshift-independent distance estimates of about 45 to 160 million light years (the HST news release uses 55 million light years as the approximate distance of the pair of galaxies). Given that and its apparent size of about 5.5 by 0.6 arcmin (from the images below), it is about 85 thousand light years across (the HST news release uses an estimate of about 87 thousand light years). NED lists NGC 4302 as possibly being a Seyfert galaxy (or perhaps its bright nucleus represents a starburst galaxy, instead). NGC 4302 is listed as a member (VCC 497) of the Virgo Cluster, and both it and its apparent companion are at an apparently appropriate distance for being members of that Cluster. However, although very close in their field of view, there is no obvious interaction between them, so they are probably separated by a couple of million light years or more (as an example, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are only a couple of million light years apart, but that is far enough that there is no obvious interaction between them).

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 4303 (= GC 2878 = JH 1202 = WH I 139, Oriani, M61, 1860 RA 12 14 46, NPD 84 45.0) is "very bright, very large, very suddenly brighter middle similar to star, binuclear." The position precesses to RA 12 21 55.0, Dec +04 28 23, nearly dead center on the galaxy listed above, the description fits, and there is nothing comparable nearby, so the identification is certain.
Discovery Notes: Per Gottlieb's detailed historical notes, Oriani discovered this while observing the Comet of 1779, and per Yann Pothier, Messier observed it on the 5th, 6th and 11th of May, and realized on the 11th that since it wasn't changing it's position, it wasn't the Comet, but an unknown nebula. Because he didn't recognize it as a nebula until the 11th, that date is usually given as his discovery date; but since he first observed it on the 5th, that should be the correct date for his "discovery". At the time William Herschel observed it, he didn't realize that it was one of Messier's objects, and catalogued it as new (WH I 139). John Herschel observed it on three consecutive sweeps, describing it on Apr 10, 1828 as "very faintly bicentral," leading to the GC and NGC description "binuclear;" but based on the relative positions given by JH for the two nuclei, the second "nucleus" is the bright knot on the northern spiral arm. Bindon Stoney discovered the spiral structure in 1851, noting the presence of two "knots", and also noted the presence of another nebula 10 arcmin "north-following" (to the northeast), which is probably NGC 4301. Stoney also sketched the nebula on Apr 14, 1852, clearly showing its structure and the two bright knots, but in the 1861 publication of observations made at Birr Castle, the sketch was misidenfied as h1196 (= JH 1196), which is NGC 4292.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation of 1915 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 4303 is about 90 million light-years away, in almost inevitable agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of about 25 to 85 million light-years, but somewhat further than the median redshift-independent distance estimate of about 40 million light years. However, the galaxy is listed as a radial-velocity based member (VCC 508) of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which contains over 2000 galaxies within a region roughly 50 to 60 million light-years away, but its spiral members are supposedly strung out along a region extending considerably further from front to back than from side to side as seen from our viewpoint, so even if 90 million light-years away, NGC 4303 could be part of the Virgo cluster, and in any event, is certainly part of the Virgo Supercluster, which spans a much larger region. Using a distance of 90 million light-years and its apparent size of about 6.55 by 5.7 arcmin (from the images below), NGC 4303 spans about 170 thousand light-years (if closer, the same apparent size correspons to a smaller physical size). The galaxy has, as shown in the VLT images, numerous newly-forming clusters of stars, and is therefore listed as a starburst galaxy. Its exceptionally bright central core leads to its also being classified as a Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 2).
Note About Distance Disagreements: As noted above, there is a very wide range in estimates of the distance of this galaxy, so the press releases for the HST and VLT images cannot be relied on as "authoritative", but merely an estimate that seemed reasonable to the authors of the releases. As it happens, both press releases say NGC 4303 is about 55 million light years away, the estimated distance for the center of the Virgo Cluster, so they are probably not based on any estimate of the distance of NGC 4303 itself.

Given its recent identification as NGC 4301, see that entry for anything else.

Apparent size 3.0 by 2.4 arcmin.

(Per Corwin, the arcmin error in the NGC position is probably due to an error in the reduction of the measured position, a common problem at a time when all calculations were done by hand, and not as rare as might be hoped even in the current era of electronic computation.) Apparent size 2.2 by 1.2 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 522) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.6 by 1.1 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 523) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 3.5 by 0.8 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 524) of the Virgo Cluster.

Warning About Non-Standard Designations:
Historical Identification and Physical Information: Given its proper identification as IC 3211, see that entry for anything else.

Apparent size 0.8 by 0.7 arcmin.

Apparent size 1.8 by 1.0 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 534) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 0.3 by 0.3 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 538) of the Virgo Cluster.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 4310 (GC 2882 = JH 1205 = WH II 378, 1860 RA 12 15 25, NPD 60 00.6) is "faint, considerably large, a little extended, northern of 2", the other being NGC 4311.
Misidentification as NGC 4311: NGC 4310 is sometimes misidentified as NGC 4311. As an example, LEDA lists NGC 4311 as "PGC 5067404", at a position within the southern outline of NGC 4310. For that reason, the link to PGC 5067404 leads to a discussion of the blunder.
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 1.0 arcmin?

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 4311 (GC 2883 = JH 1206, 1860 RA 12 15 25, NPD 60 01.1) is "faint, southern of 2", the other being NGC 4310. A comparison of this entry to the one for NGC 4310 shows that NGC 4311 should be only half an arcmin south of NGC 4310 (Herschel's original notes actually said "south-following", meaning a little southeast, and put the two objects only a third of an arcmin apart), but as can be seen in the images of NGC 4310 there is nothing else there or anywhere near there. Per Corwin, Herschel observed the region twice, recording only NGC 4310 (as his JH 1205) on the first occasion, and observing two objects only on the second occasion. It is hard to imagine what Herschel saw (or thought he saw) on that date; perhaps there appeared to be some faint irregularity of the relatively bright image of NGC 4310 that looked like a second object (a remote possibility would be a fortuitous observation of a supernova in the galaxy, but there would be no way to prove such a thing). All that is certain is that the entry for NGC 4311 probably represents an unidentifiable or nonexistent object.
A Mistaken Identification: LEDA lists NGC 4311 as PGC 5067404, a spiral galaxy at RA 12 22 26.3, Dec +29 12 16, but this is actually a mistaken identification of (and incorrect position for) NGC 4310.

To be discussed in the next iteration of this page (magnitudes 11.7 and 13)

Historical Misidentification: Misidentified in LEDA as NGC 4311, and listed there as PGC 5067404; however, a search of the database for the PGC designation returns no results, and the position falls within the southern outline of NGC 4310, so it is simply a blunder in the LEDA database.
Physical Information: Since this is a misidentification of NGC 4310, see that entry instead.

Apparent size 4.6 by 1.1 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 559) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 3.8 by 0.9 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 570) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 4.2 by 3.7 arcmin.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4315 (Tempel list V (#18), 1860 RA 12 15 32, NPD 79 55.0) is "very faint, very small". The position precesses to RA 12 22 39.6, Dec +09 18 23, but there is nothing there, save for scattered stars. The critical thing, as noted by Corwin, is that NGC 4315 was recorded by Tempel as being 2 seconds west and 1.5 arcmin south of NGC 4316 (as shown by the NGC entries for both objects) . He suggests that as in other cases Tempel may have reversed the sign of the difference in RA, which would put NGC 4315 east of NGC 4316. In that case the position falls very close to the 13th-magnitude star listed above, and it is generally accepted that it is probably what Tempel mistook for a nebula. Corwin also notes that the 14th-magnitude star to the southwest of the star listed above has a nearly correct RA, but since it would require a difference in declination twice as large as recorded by Tempel, it seems a far less likely candidate for what he observed. Still, some references list the fainter star as NGC 4315, so there is far from universal agreement about the identification. (See the wide-field image of NGC 4316 for a view of the probable NGC 4315.)

To be discussed (or deleted) in the next iteration of this page

Per Dreyer, NGC 4316 (Tempel list V (#17), 1860 RA 12 15 34, NPD 79 53.4) is "very faint, small, much extended, 2 knots". (A critical reference for the identification of NGC 4315.) Apparent size 2.5 by 0.5 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 576) of the Virgo Cluster.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4317 (GC 2887 = WH II 324, 1860 RA 12 15 35, NPD 58 11.0) is "faint, small". The position precesses to RA 12 22 35.8, Dec +31 02 23, but there is nothing there. Per Corwin, no effort to identify the position by adding or subtracting some kind of recording error produces any useful result. He also notes that although some investigators have tried to identify the entry with one star or another, if Herschel had observed a star he would have said it was "very small" or "extremely small", so even that possibility is very unlikely. So we are left with an unidentifiable or nonexistent object.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4318 (GC 2889 = JH 1208, 1860 RA 12 15 37, NPD 81 01.3) is "extremely faint, 8th magnitude star 5' north". The second IC adds "According to Schwassmann, it looks on the plate like an 11th or 12th magnitude star, not nebulous". Apparent size 0.7 by 0.5 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 575) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 2.8 by 2.1 arcmin. At one time Halton Arp used a supposed interaction of NGC 4319 with its apparent companion (PGC 39975) as (incorrect) evidence that the high recessional velocities of quasars were not due to great distances, but to unusual peculiar velocities; however, the apparent companion is now known to be 15 times further away, and its large recessional velocity really is due to its great distance.

Above, a 3 arcmin wide closeup of NGC 4319. The 'star' below the nucleus is actually a quasar, PGC 39975 (also known as Markarian 205), which is 15 times further away. Below, a closeup of the core of the galaxy and its apparent companion shows that the starlike object is actually a galaxy with a star-like core. (Image Credits: NASA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: R. Knacke (Penn State Erie))

As noted in the entry for NGC 4319, a supposed interaction between that galaxy and Markarian 205 was once used as (incorrect) evidence that the large recessional velocities of quasars were not due to great distances, but to unusual peculiar velocities. That is now known to be incorrect, and the 21240 km/sec recessional velocity of PGC 39975 is actually due to its great distance. Based on a straightforward calculation, that recessional velocity implies a distance of 990 million light years. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the Universal expansion during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was 910 million light years away when the light by which we see it was emitted, 940 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of 0.125 by 0.09 arcmin, PGC 39975 is about 35 thousand light years across. It is a Seyfert galaxy (type Sy 1), and one of the closest quasar-like objects known. (See NGC 4319 for images.)

Per Dreyer, NGC 4320 (GC 5637, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 12 15 48, NPD 78 40.5) is "faint, very small, southwestern of 2", the other being NGC 4325. The second IC adds "Not found by Frost on plates of 4 hours exposure", but as shown in the images below the object does exist. The position precesses to RA 12 22 55.2, Dec +10 32 53, only half an arcmin west of the nucleus, so the identification is certain. Apparent size 1.0 by 0.6 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 599) of the Virgo Cluster. Apparently binuclear, this object is probably a near-end product of the merger of two galaxies.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 4321 (= GC 2890 = JH 1211, Méchain, M100, 1860 RA 12 15 50, NPD 73 24.0) is "a most remarkable object, pretty faint, very large, round, very gradually then pretty suddenly brighter middle and mottled but not resolved nucleus; (per Lassell) 2-branched spiral." The position precesses to RA 12 22 55.7, Dec +15 49 24, almost dead center on the galaxy listed above and the description fits, so the identification is certain.
Note About Spiral Structure: Per Gottlieb, the first mention of possible spiral structure for this object was by Lord Rosse ("spiral or curvilinear") in his 1850 paper, while Lassell published sketches showing the spiral arms on Apr 24 and 26, 1862. the second one in particular is an excellent rendering, showing both arms both wrapping more than halfway around the core; it was this sketch that led to Dreyer's comment in the NGC entry.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation of 1895 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 4321 is about 85 to 90 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of about 35 to 90 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of about 9.5 by 6.6 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 245 thousand light years across. NGC 4321 is listed as a member (VCC 596) of the Virgo Cluster, but if so must be on the more distant rim of the cluster or else have a substantial peculiar velocity (a more or less random motion relative to its neighbors that has nothing to do with the expansion of the Universe).

Per Dreyer, NGC 4322 and 4323 (Tempel list V, 1860 RA 12 15 50±, NPD 73 20±) are "2 (objects), very faint, north of M100". With such an uncertain specification of the position and nothing to distinguish between the two objects, which entry corresponds to which celestial object is bound to be uncertain. Per Corwin, Tempel's notes translate as "...on my drawing there are three other very faint nebulae in the vicinity, two north of and close to (GC)2890 [NGC 4321], and the third south of (GC)2894 [NGC 4328]." Corwin proposes that the 13th-magnitude star northwest of NGC 4321 should be NGC 4322 (as listed above), and the 14th-magnitude galaxy northeast of NGC 4321 should be NGC 4323 (as listed as that entry), so that the listings are in order of RA, as is the general rule for the NGC (see the widefield view of NGC 4323 for an image of both objects). Most references treat both NGC 4322 and 4323 as the galaxy to the northeast, but as Corwin points out, since Tempel specified that he saw two objects to the north of NGC 4321, no matter which listing corresponds to what object they cannot refer to the same object.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4322 and 4323 (Tempel list V, 1860 RA 12 15 50±, NPD 73 20±) are "2 (objects), very faint, north of M100". With such an uncertain specification of the position and nothing to distinguish between the two objects, which entry corresponds to which celestial object is bound to be uncertain. As a result, as discussed at the entry for NGC 4322, the two listings are often treated as duplicate listings of PGC 40171; but per that discussion that cannot be the case, and it is probably most appropriate for that galaxy to be identified only as NGC 4323. Apparent size 1.1 by 0.8 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 608) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 2.9 by 1.2 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 613) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.4 by 0.95 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 616) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.4 by 1,1 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 623) of the Virgo Cluster.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4327 (Tempel list V, 1860 RA 12 16 05±, NPD 73 27±) is "very faint, south of (WH) II 84", WH II 84 being NGC 4328. The position precesses to RA 12 23 10.6, Dec +15 46 24 (whence the position listed above), but there is nothing there save for a few very faint stars. Per Corwin, given Tempel's propensity for mistaking faint stars for nebulae, one of them is probably what Tempel observed, and he and others have made various guesses as to which of the stars might be NGC 4327. However, all Tempel said about the position was "south of (JH) 2894" (which is the same as (WH) II 84), and the NGC position is merely a guess based on that statement, so I cannot imagine any way of determining which (if any) of the modern guesses about the identity of NGC 4327 is correct. Hence my decision to list the object as "probably an unknown star", and not risk giving the impression of any certainty about which star it might (or might not) be.

Above, a 12 arcmin wide SDSS image of the region (south of NGC 4328, shown at top center) that presumably contains the object listed as NGC 4327. NGC 4321 (M100) is also shown, at upper right.

Apparent size 1.3 by 0.9 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 634) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin.

Apparent size 4.5 by 0.9 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 630) of the Virgo Cluster.

The position above is for the bright knot on the northern side of the galaxy listed above; the center of the galaxy is almost 20 arcsec south southeast of that position.
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.2 by 0.4 arcmin.

Apparent size 2.1 by 1.5 arcmin.

Apparent size 0.8 by 0.7 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 637) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 2.2 by 1.1 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 638) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.9 by 1.5 arcmin.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4336 (GC 2901 = JH 1219 = WH II 406, 1860 RA 12 16 21, NPD 69 48.2) is "very faint, pretty large, irregularly round, possibly binuclear". The position precesses to RA 12 23 25.4, Dec +19 25 12, a couple of arcmin west of the galaxy, but there is nothing else nearby, so the identification is certain. Apparent size 2.0 by 0.9 arcmin.

Apparent size 3.5 arcmin.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4338 (GC 5640, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 12 16 25, NPD 60 00.1) is "very faint, a little extended, cometic (like a comet)". The position precesses to RA 12 23 26.0, Dec +29 13 18, but at first glance there is nothing there. However, there is a suitable candidate exactly 1 minute to the west, namely Herschel's NGC 4310 (which see for anything else), and it is almost certain that d'Arrest made a transcription error, and the two listings refer to the same object. (This opinion is supported by the fact that (per Corwin) d'Arrest observed the region on four occasions, each time finding only one galaxy (NGC 4310 on three occasions, and NGC 4338 on the other), so he probably observed the same galaxy all four times, and simply made an error in his measurements or calculations on the one night.) However, some sources incorrectly list IC 3247 as NGC 4338, hence the disclaimer in the title for this entry.

Apparent size 1.9 by 1.7 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 648) of the Virgo Cluster.

Based on a recessional velocity of 950 km/sec, NGC 4340 is about 45 million light years away, in fair agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 55 to 65 million light years, which are in good agreement with the distance of its apparent companion, 55 million light year distant NGC 4350. Assuming a distance of 55 million light years, the galaxy's apparent size of 3.5 by 2.8 arcmin implies that it is about 55 thousand light years across. Used by the de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxy Types as an example of galaxy type SB(r)0⁺.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4341 (GC 2905 = WH III 95, 1860 RA 12 16 30, NPD 82 14.5) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The history of discovery for the galaxies in this region is complicated by the fact that Herschel did not bother to list different positions for the three galaxies (WH III 94, 95 and 96) that he discovered. If he had, the assignment of galaxies to the corresponding NGC entries (4341, 4342 and 4343) would probably be different from the one used here; but it is the one that seems to have been more or less universally agreed upon, so for now that will have to do. (A more detailed discussion of the history will be added in the next iteration of this page.) Apparent size 1.7 by 0.6 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 672) of the Virgo Cluster.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4342 (GC 2906 = WH III 96, 1860 RA 12 16 30, NPD 82 14.5) is "extremely faint, very small, round". The history of discovery for the galaxies in this region is complicated by the fact that Herschel did not bother to list different positions for the three galaxies (WH III 94, 95 and 96) that he discovered. If he had, the assignment of galaxies to the corresponding NGC entries (4341, 4342 and 4343) would probably be different from the one used here; but it is the one that seems to have been more or less universally agreed upon, so for now that will have to do. (A more detailed discussion of the history will be added in the next iteration of this page.) Apparent size 1.2 by 0.6 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 657) of the Virgo Cluster.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4343 (GC 2907 = JH 1223 = JH III 94, 1860 RA 12 16 31, NPD 82 16.2) is "pretty faint, small, elongated, possibly double". The history of discovery for the galaxies in this region is complicated by the fact that Herschel did not bother to list different positions for the three galaxies (WH III 94, 95 and 96) that he discovered. If he had, the assignment of galaxies to the corresponding NGC entries (4341, 4342 and 4343) would probably be different from the one used here; but it is the one that seems to have been more or less universally agreed upon, so for now that will have to do. (A more detailed discussion of the history will be added in the next iteration of this page.) Apparent size 2.3 by 0.7 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 656) of the Virgo Cluster.

Apparent size 1.7 by 1.6 arcmin. Listed as a member (VCC 655) of the Virgo Cluster.

(See NGC 4319 for anything else)

Apparent size 3.2 by 1.3 arcmin.

Per Dreyer, NGC 4347 (Peters, 1860 RA 12 16 42, NPD 92 27.7) has "No description". The position precesses to RA 12 23 53.1, Dec -03 14 18, practically on top of the star listed above. Corwin wonders whether NGC 4347 is a poorly measured duplicate of NGC 4348, then quotes from two of Peters' papers showing that Peters felt certain that his "nova" could not be GC 2911 (= NGC 4348), as it did not match its description, and he separately observed the latter nebula on a later occasion. Given that and the apparently accurate measurement of the star's position, it seems its identity with NGC 4347 should be considered certain. (Why Corwin raises the possibility of a duplicate listing, then proceeds to knock it down is unclear; perhaps he meant to show that the star's right to the NGC listing rests not only on its position, but also the lack of any acceptable alternative.)

Historical Identification: The identification of NGC 4348 is certain; but whether it is a duplicate of NGC 4347 (which see) is very uncertain, at best.
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.2 by 0.7 arcmin.

A very loose cluster, so its "position" is uncertain. Corwin lists it as RA 12 24 29.0, Dec -61 51 42
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.0 arcmin?