Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5981  ·  NGC 5982  ·  NGC 5985  ·  PGC 2588841  ·  PGC 2590275
NGC 5985, 5982, 5981 Draco triplet, Jerry Macon
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NGC 5985, 5982, 5981 Draco triplet

NGC 5985, 5982, 5981 Draco triplet, Jerry Macon
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NGC 5985, 5982, 5981 Draco triplet

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Images from the following two scopes (piggybacked) contributed to this image:

AG12+ASI1600MM at .70 asec/pix

TV127is+ASI183MM at .75 asec/pix.

They were all registered to the best R image taken on the AG12.

Using L from the TV NP127is refractor effectively eliminates the spikes from the AG12.

The Draco trio of galaxies are really spectacular. The center one is an elliptical galaxy, the other two are barred spiral galaxies with one face on, the other edge on. They are not related to each other, being at different distances but in the same line of sight, located in the northern constellation Draco. They are approximately 100 million light years away.

NGC 5985 is a spiral galaxy, discovered by William Herschel in 1788. It is 140 million light years from earth.

NGC 5982 is an elliptical galaxy located at a distance of circa 130 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5982 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788.

NGC 5982 has a kinematically decoupled nucleus, with its major axis being nearly perpendicular to the rotation of the galaxy. NGC 5982 features a large number of shells in its envelope, nearly 26. The shells form circular arcs, with the further being located at a radius of 150 arcseconds along the major axis of the galaxy, while the innermost one lies 8 arcseconds off the nucleus. The shells and the kinematically decoupled nucleus are the result of the merger of the elliptical galaxy with a small elliptical galaxy.

The galaxy has globular clusters that belong in two populations, red and blue. The age of the globular clusters in NGC 5982 is over 5 billion years.

(Wikipedia)

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NGC 5985, 5982, 5981 Draco triplet, Jerry Macon

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