This galaxy group consists of 5 galaxies, called Hickson 58, is located in the constellation of Leo at a declination of +10 degrees.  This is a beautiful magnitude 12.5 cluster, with 4 of the 5 galaxies being spirals.  Each of these spirals has an interesting structure.

This is a true cluster - all 5 galaxies are about the same distance away, ranging from 290 to 310 million light years.  Unusual for a Hickson cluster, all 5 galaxies have NGC designations.

The brightest galaxy, magnitude 13.5 Hickson 58a, is also known as NGC 3822.  It is an inclined spiral with an orange disk and an unusual blue star cloud at 12 o’clock.  This blue cloud could be a deformed companion dwarf galaxy.

The largest galaxy is Hickson 58b (NGC 3825).  It spans 1.3 arc-minutes, which corresponds to a Milky Way like diameter of 120,000 light years.  I love the point symmetry of the pair of wide spiraling arms, and the unusual bright ansae on either side of the slightly barred core. 

Hickson 58c (NGC 3817) is a fascinating barlense galaxy with ansae and an occluded disk.  Small companions appear on both sides of the galaxy, although either of these could also be a distant galaxy.

Hickson 58d (NGC 3819) is the boring elliptical of the bunch, but it is surrounded by several bright distant edge-on galaxies.

Hickson 58e (NGC 3820) is another interesting spiral, with an offset core that has a small bright extension towards the top of the galaxy.

Note the many interesting distant background galaxies at 2 billion light years away and more, especially the tiny “C” shape towards the middle left edge.

The Hickson catalog is a collection of 100 galaxy groups, established by Paul Hickson in 1982. Hickson compact galaxy groups are tightly spaced and somewhat isolated from other galaxies. A typical Hickson group has 4 galaxies, but some have up to 8. You can see more about Hickson galaxy groups in my Astrobin Hickson Collection.