Zoom-in on NGC 4485

This video zooms in on the irregular galaxy NGC 4485, about 30 million light-years away. It starts with a view of the night sky focused on the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs), as seen from the ground. It then zooms through observations from the Digitized Sky Survey 2, and ends with a view of the galaxy obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

During the zoom also the neighbouring galaxy, NGC 4490 becomes visible. The gravitational pull of this galaxy is responsible for the irregular shape of NGC 4485 and also caused the intense star formation in the galaxy, as well as the bright stream of gas and stars emerging from it.