Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Boötes (Boo)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5820  ·  NGC 5821
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Arp 136, Gary Imm
Arp 136, Gary Imm

Arp 136

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Arp 136, Gary Imm
Arp 136, Gary Imm

Arp 136

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Description

This object, also known as NGC 5820, is a lenticular galaxy located 170 million light years away in the constellation of Bootes at a declination of +54 degrees. This magnitude 13 galaxy spans 2 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 90,000 light years.

I calculate that we are viewing this galaxy about 20 degrees from edge-on. The galaxy is interesting in terms of the plume of stars which extends down and to the left. I assume this is the reason why Dr. Arp included this galaxy in his “peculiar” collection. In his Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the category of Elliptical and Elliptical-Like Galaxies with Nearby Fragments.

The only galaxy at a similar distance away as NGC 5820 is the large spiral galaxy to the top left, NGC 5821. The disk of NGC 5821 is a bit asymmetric. It appears odd to me because of the orange color throughout, which is unusual for a spiral. These 2 galaxies may be interacting with each other.

Most of the other galaxies seen in the image, especially those around NGC 5820, are 1 billion or more light years away. So while these might look like companions, they are too far away.

I expanded the framing a bit to capture UGC 9632, the blue galaxy with the interesting structure to the lower right. This galaxy is a bit closer at 150 million light years away.

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