Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Eridanus (Eri)  ·  Contains:  13.93  ·  329 Svea  ·  NGC 1253
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Arp 279, Gary Imm
Arp 279, Gary Imm

Arp 279

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Arp 279, Gary Imm
Arp 279, Gary Imm

Arp 279

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Description

This object is a pair of interacting galaxies (NGC 1253 & 1253A) located 70 million light years away in the constellation of Eridanus at a declination of -3 degrees. The larger galaxy, a loose spiral, spans 6 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 120,000 light years.

The number of bright blue star clusters that appear in both of these galaxies is amazing. I like the structure of the inner region of the large galaxy. The small galaxy is really a mess. It looks like it is being severely distorted, perhaps as a precursor to a merger.

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