NGC/IC Project Restoration Effort

===== NGC 4258 18" (6/4/05): two spiral arms are evident emerging from the large, very bright core. On the west side of the core, a thin, gently sweeping arm defines the western edge of the galaxy. At the southern end of this arm is a brighter knot or HII region (identified as SDSS J121901.36+471525.0 in NED). On the east side of the core, a well-defined, thin arm juts out from the core towards the NNW as a linear extension. The arm is brightest at the root, where it attaches to the core. The core is concentrated to a fairly small, very bright central nucleus and the extensions/arms have a slightly mottled or lively appearance. This is a Seyfert 2 galaxy with a very active galactic nuclei. The standard model for the core assumes a massive black hole. 17.5" (4/7/89): very bright, very large, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, 14'x4', large bright core concentrated to a very small brighter central region. A thin bright spiral arm attached at the core extends towards the NNW on the following side of the galaxy. There is a sharp edge along the west side of this arm. 13" (4/12/86): bright, very large, bright core, substellar nucleus, mottling near core. A large bright knot is at end of the southern arm. 13" (3/17/86): very bright, very large, impressive! Contains a nearly stellar core in a high surface brightness oval disk. 8": bright, very large, elongated, bright core.