This
Astrobin Debut Object is a magnitude 13.7 galaxy group of 4 galaxies, called Hickson 64, located in the constellation of Virgo at a declination of -4 degrees. The 3 galaxies close together (64a, 64b and 64d) form a true cluster, while 64c is much closer.
The largest and brightest galaxy, magnitude 14.4 Hickson 64a, is 0.5 billion light years away. This is a fascinating and complex spiral galaxy. It spans 1.2 arc-minutes, which corresponds to a huge diameter of 170,000 light years. Just above 64a is the spiral 64b, which is about the same distance away. I see faint winding star streams connecting these 2 galaxies – if these are indeed connected star streams, it is one of the most interesting interacting galaxy objects that I have ever seen.
Adjacent to 64b is 64d, which is at the same distance from us as 64a and 64b. Is it also connected by star streams to the other 2? It could be but it is hard to discern.
64c, at the top of the image, is a less exciting elliptical or lenticular, located much closer to us at about half the distance (0.25 billion light years).
The Hickson catalog is a collection of 100 galaxy groups, established by Paul Hickson in 1982. Hickson compact galaxy groups are tightly spaced and somewhat isolated from other galaxies. A typical Hickson group has 4 galaxies, but some have up to 8. You can see more about Hickson galaxy groups in my
Astrobin Hickson Collection.
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FYI, this is the first of my LRGB images with my new standard integration time of 3-1/3 hours, which is 1/3 less time than my 5 hour integration time of the last 5 years. After some experimenting, I have found that the new deconvolution and noise reduction tools allow us to get similar quality results in less time. I have been using the Croman tools identified in the Equipment section above, but alternative tools are also available.
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