This
Astrobin Debut Object consists of 7 galaxies located in the constellation of Eridanus at a declination of -4 degrees. It is both an
Arp and a
Hickson object. 6 of these 7 galaxies are 190 million light years away.
This object spans 1.8 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a width of 100,000 light years. It was classified by Dr. Arp into that wonderfully titled category of Galaxies – Irregular Clumps.
My interpretation when first viewing my processed image was that this is a long irregular galaxy, twisted around and looping back upon itself by interaction with the dwarf galaxy IC 339 (below and left of Arp 259). But that interpretation is entirely incorrect. Studies based on velocity measurements have concluded that this object consists of the dwarf galaxies labeled A thru G in my mouseover image. These galaxies are also known as Hickson 31. These galaxies seem to me to be in the process of merging. Each galaxy has a blue tint, but that tint varies. I especially like the difference in tint between A and C.
Just to complicate things a bit, you may have noticed that galaxy D has an orange tint and not a blue tint like its companions. Color is so useful in these images! Galaxy D is much further away, at 1.25 billion light years, and obviously is not a member of this object.
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