Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  IC 1146
Arp 109, Gary Imm
Arp 109, Gary Imm

Arp 109

Arp 109, Gary Imm
Arp 109, Gary Imm

Arp 109

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Description

This Astrobin Debut Object consists of a pair of magnitude 15 galaxies located 0.5 billion light years away in the constellation of Draco at a declination of +69 degrees. In his Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the odd category of Elliptical Galaxies Repelling Spiral Arms.

The spiral galaxy at the top is MCG+12-15-017. The bright portion of this galaxy spans 30 arc-seconds in our apparent view, which corresponds to a width of 85,000 light years. The star stream extends another 100,000 light years upward. It is interesting to see twin star streams above this galaxy and none below it.

The lenticular (or possibly elliptical) galaxy at the center is MCG+12-15-018. It spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 140,000 light years

Based on the star streams and the calculated distances, I believe that this pair of galaxies are interacting. But of course there is no way to confirm this.

The large lenticular galaxy at lower right is IC 1146. It is “only” 370 million light years away and has a Milky Way like diameter of 120,000 light years.

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