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Astrobin Debut Object is a small galaxy group located in the constellation of Eridanus at a declination of -9 degrees. The image is dominated by the bright blue 5.8 magnitude foreground Milky Way star 56 Eri (HD 30076).
NGC 1646 is the large oblong elliptical galaxy at left center, located 220 million light years away. It is a magnitude 13 galaxy which spans 2.4 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a large diameter of 150,000 light years.
The big question here is how many galaxies are part of the group with NGC 1646? The galaxy at top left, NGC 1648, is the same distance away, although far enough away from NGC 1646 not to be interacting.
The spiral galaxy just to the left of NGC 1646, LEDA 3084954, does not have distance data available. It looks like a distant galaxy based on its lack of disturbance. If it is at the same distance away as NGC 1646, it would only be 35,000 light years in diameter, which seem too small for such a well-structured spiral.
The mystery galaxy is marked with a “?”. It is not indicated as a galaxy anywhere I could find. It looks like a close small elliptical companion, based on the disturbed light cone near it. It is possible that it is a small Milky Way star, but it looks a bit diffuse for that.
So I think, in the end, there are 3 galaxies in this group, with the 2 ellipticals close enough to be interacting.
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