Notable Deep-sky Objects
Corvus contains no Messier objects.
The Antennae peculiar galaxy, NGC 4038 and 4039, consists of two interacting galaxies that appear to have a heart shape as seen from Earth. The name originates from the huge tidal tails that come off the ends of the two galaxies, formed because of the spiral galaxies' original rotation. Both original galaxies were spiral galaxies and are now experiencing extensive star formation due to the interaction of gas clouds. The galaxies are 800 million light-years from Earth and each has multiple ultraluminous X-ray sources, the source of which is unknown. Astronomers theorize that they may be a rare type of x-ray emitting binary stars or intermediate-mass black holes. The Antennae galaxies appear in a telescope at the 10th magnitude.
The center of Corvus is home to a planetary nebula NGC 4361. The nebula itself resembles a small elliptical galaxy, but the magnitude 13 star at its centre gives away its true nature.
Read more about this topic: Corvus (constellation)
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