UGC 8313 is an edge-on spiral galaxy

Spiral galaxy

A spiral galaxy is a certain kind of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae and, as such, forms part of the Hubble sequence. Spiral galaxies consist of a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as...

 located in the constellation Canes Venatici

Canes Venatici

Canes Venatici is one of the 88 official modern constellations. It is a small northern constellation that was created by Johannes Hevelius in the 17th century. Its name is Latin for "hunting dogs", and the constellation is often depicted in illustrations as representing the dogs of Boötes the...

. It is a member of the M51 Group

M51 Group

The M51 Group is a group of galaxies located in Canes Venatici. The group is named after the brightest galaxy in the group, the Whirlpool Galaxy...

 of galaxies and measures about 6 kiloparsecs (19,000 light-year

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s) in diameter and has a mass of about 1M_☉

Solar mass

The solar mass , , is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, used to indicate the masses of other stars and galaxies...

. UGC 8313 is most likely a companion of the Sunflower Galaxy

Sunflower Galaxy

The Sunflower Galaxy is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici consisting of a central disc surrounded by many short spiral arm segments...

 and gravitational interactions between the two may be responsible for the warps and asymmetries that have been observed in the latter galaxy.