This trio of galaxies is located in the constellation of Leo at a declination of +32 degrees.
The bottom right galaxy is the unusual spiral NGC 2964. It is closer than the other 2, at 60 million light years away. It spans 3.5 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a diameter of 60,000 light years. The galaxy structure is colorful, with a yellow core, blue arms, and a sprinkle of pink HII regions. The arm structure is fragmented.
The center galaxy is NGC 2968. It is interacting with the upper left galaxy, NGC 2970, as evidenced by the faint star steam connecting them. Both galaxies are 80 million light years away. Note that one of the brightest parts of the star stream is above left of NGC 2970, looking a bit like the
umbrella star stream pattern that is indicative of galaxy interaction.
NGC 2968 is a magnitude 14.2 arm-less spiral galaxy which spans 4 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a diameter of 90,000 light years. My favorite part of the image is its magnificent dark dust lane which encircles the inner region at a slightly different angle than the long axis of the galaxy. The outer galaxy region is diffuse. It looks like this galaxy was formed from a past merger, perhaps between a spiral and an elliptical.
NGC 2970 is a small lenticular galaxy which spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view. This corresponds to a diameter of 25,000 light years. Beneath this object is another galaxy (SDSS J094332.57+315803.2) that is even smaller. It is closer to us and it is unlikely that these 2 are interacting.
Comments