Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)
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Arp 60 (with Arp 196), Gary Imm
Arp 60 (with Arp 196), Gary Imm

Arp 60 (with Arp 196)

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Arp 60 (with Arp 196), Gary Imm
Arp 60 (with Arp 196), Gary Imm

Arp 60 (with Arp 196)

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Description

This image captures 2 distant, tiny and faint Arp objects. They are both Astrobin Debut Objects, located 1 billion light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices at a declination of +26 degrees. These are the farthest Arp objects to my knowledge, and in the case of Arp 60, the smallest in our apparent view. Both of these objects are similar to planets in their apparent size.

Arp 60 is the pair of galaxies appearing just below and left of the center of the image. In his Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the category of Spiral Galaxies with Small, High Surface Brightness Companions on Arms. The main galaxy is the 3 armed spiral 2MASX J13144704+2606244. It spans 15 arc-seconds in our apparent view and is 75,000 light years in diameter. Slightly above and right is the companion galaxy, MAC 1314+2606A. I don’t see any sign of interaction here and I think it is likely that the companion is simply a background galaxy about 2 billion light years away.

Arp 196 is the pair of interacting galaxies located slightly above and right of the center of the image. The large galaxy in Arp 196 is 2MASX J13143759+2607259. It has an odd structure – a bright core surrounded by a ring. The companion below, and slightly right, is 2MASX J13143626+2606449, 60,000 light years in diameter. A faint star stream bridge appears to connect these two galaxies. Go here for a detailed description of this image from the Arp 196 perspective.

These small objects is where the 200 inch Palomar scope, largest in the world at that time, really shines. Its resolution here is much better than mine.

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