NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy (lowenthalm)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Pisces (Psc) · Contains: NGC 520 · PGC 5193 · PGC 5195 · PGC 5208

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NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy

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NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy

This has got to be the weirdest galaxy I have ever seen, most certainly deserving its name. It also looks like a little qhost when observed visually. Imaging reveals a huge tidal tail arcing around clockwise toward a small irregular galaxy, UGC 957 at the top. They are both 100 million ly away, so their apparent interaction appears to be quite real. This is about 33 minutes total integration time across two different observing sites, but clearly I need more to properly understand the structure of that tidal tail.

I am really at a loss to imagine how NGC520 is a post-interaction spiral. Maybe is a merger of two spirals?

That tiny edge-on lenticular galaxy at the bottom of the frame is unrelated, since its distance is catalogued as 1.7 billion light years. Its remarkably bright considering its distance!

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	2263543
PixInsight job	Y2PPSACAY7E2Y00MJPGA5DGZW428B6B7
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	01h24m35s.856
RA (top/left)	01h25m05s.585
RA (top/right)	01h23m58s.543
RA (bottom/right)	01h24m06s.137
RA (bottom/left)	01h25m13s.173

Dec (center)	+03°48′01″.45
Dec (top/left)	+03°56′11″.62
Dec (top/right)	+03°53′57″.27
Dec (bottom/right)	+03°39′51″.31
Dec (bottom/left)	+03°42′05″.71

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NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy

NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy

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NGC 520, The Flying Ghost Galaxy

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