This chain of galaxies is located 300 million light years away in the constellation of Pisces at a declination of +32 degrees. The largest and brightest galaxy, NGC 383 in the center, has an apparent size of 1.5 arc-minutes and a diameter of 120,000 light years. The galaxies range in magnitude from 13 for this galaxy down to 17.
Arp classified this object in his category of
Chains of Galaxies. It is commonly referred to as a group of 12 galaxies, which corresponds to the 12 NGC galaxies identified in the mouseover. Most of these galaxies are elliptical and don't show much structure, with the exception of the far right galaxy NGC 379 . The galaxies also show no sign of disturbance which is a bit puzzling, although elliptical galaxies usually don’t show much disturbance unless the gravitational forces are severe.
These is the densest collection of NGC galaxies that I can recall imaging - 12 NGC galaxies in a field radius of 0.175 degrees. If anyone knows of a more dense one, please let me know. Abell 426 is close but not quite as dense.
The image background includes more galaxies than stars.
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