Posted on 07/01/2023 12:33:43 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: This tantalizing trio of galaxies sometimes called the Draco Group, is located in the northern constellation of (you guessed it) Draco, the Dragon. From left to right are face-on spiral NGC 5985, elliptical galaxy NGC 5982, and edge-on spiral NGC 5981, all found within this single telescopic field of view that spans a little more than the width of the full moon. While the group is far too small to be a galaxy cluster, and has not been catalogued as a compact galaxy group, the three galaxies all do lie roughly 100 million light-years from planet Earth. Not as well known as other tight groupings of galaxies, the contrast in visual appearance still makes this triplet an attractive subject for astroimagers. On close examination with spectrographs, the bright core of striking spiral NGC 5985 shows prominent emission in specific wavelengths of light, prompting astronomers to classify it as a Seyfert, a type of active galaxy. This impressively deep exposure hints at a faint dim halo along with sharp-edged shells surrounding elliptical NGC 5982, evidence of past galactic mergers. It also reveals many even more distant background galaxies.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Beautiful.
Draco gets a constellation named after him but Theseus, Solon, Themistocles and Pericles don’t? One Athenian is enough?
Unimaginable immensity! Unimaginable power and omniscience! Jesus knows every star He created, by name.
Gotta put these on my observing list…
Dang, I was gonna mess around and post a Chill Wills joke, but his McLintock! character was actually Drago. ;^) Thanks, another nice pic! And I’m glad you took over the APOD posts, in case I’d never mentioned that.
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