The two galaxies designated NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 are commonly known as the Siamese Twins. These two galaxies are part of the Virgo cluster. Although the two galaxies appear to be almost touching from our viewpoint, there is no sign of tidal filaments or distorted structure such as the type that is normally observed in gravitationally interacting galaxies. The galaxies were first called the Siamese Twins by L. S. Copeland. The Virgo cluster of galaxies have a mean distance from us of about 42 million light-years. The galaxies in the Virgo cluster are moving away from our galaxy with a mean red shift of about 680 miles per second. However, the relative movement of the cluster members varies from a red shift at one extreme of about 1545 miles per second, to some galaxies which show an approach radial velocity, and are therefore actually moving toward us.
The galaxy to the right of the Siamese Twins is NGC 4564, an elongated magnitude 11 galaxy in the same field of view.
This is an LRGB composite CCD image taken at prime focus on a Takahashi FS-128 refractor at f8. An SBIG ST-8 CCD was used, with a Homeyer color filter wheel. MaxIm DL/CCD was used for image acquisition and some image processing, and PhotoShop 7 was used for the LRGB composition and some image processing.
The Siamese Twin Galaxies
NGC 4567
RA: 12h 36m 33s Dec: +11d 15' 28" (J2000)
NGC 4568
RA: 12h 36m 34s Dec: +11d 14' 19" (J2000)
Constellation: Virgo
March 21, 1999
Images by Sid Leach
Iola, Texas
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