Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5981  ·  NGC 5982  ·  NGC 5985
Draco Triplet (NCC 5981. NGC 5982, NGC 5985), Colin McGill
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Draco Triplet (NCC 5981. NGC 5982, NGC 5985)

Draco Triplet (NCC 5981. NGC 5982, NGC 5985), Colin McGill
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Draco Triplet (NCC 5981. NGC 5982, NGC 5985)

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Description

A lovely galaxy triplet in Draco, showing different galaxy types. NGC 5981 is an edge on spiral, 5982 is an elliptical galaxy, while NGC 5985 is a near face on galaxy.

Interestingly, you can make out a couple of outer shells in the elliptical galaxy, signs of gravitational interaction - I wasn't entirely sure they were real, but are also there in APOD photos. Finally, if you look hard, the background around the galaxies is slightly brighter - there has been an envelope of hydrogen detected in the CLOGS study surrounding these galaxies - not sure if its that, or just poor flat fielding!

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Draco Triplet (NCC 5981. NGC 5982, NGC 5985), Colin McGill