Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  HD89086  ·  NGC 3185  ·  NGC 3187  ·  NGC 3189  ·  NGC 3190  ·  NGC 3193
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Hickson 44 / Arp 316, Dionysus
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Hickson 44 / Arp 316

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Hickson 44 / Arp 316, Dionysus
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Hickson 44 / Arp 316

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Description

The four prominent galaxies seen in this image are the Hickson 44 compact galaxy group, about 100 million light-years distant toward the constellation Leo.  The two spiral galaxies in the center of the image are edge-on NGC 3190 with its distinctive, warped dust lanes, and S-shaped NGC 3187. Along with the bright elliptical, NGC 3193 at the top left, they are also known as Arp 316. The spiral in the lower right corner is NGC 3185, the 4th member of the Hickson group.

Like other galaxies in Hickson groups, these show signs of distortion and enhanced star formation, evidence of a gravitational tug of war that will eventually result in galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale. The merger process is now understood to be a normal part of the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. For scale, NGC 3190 is about 75,000 light-years across at the estimated distance of Hickson 44.

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Hickson 44 / Arp 316, Dionysus

In these public groups

Rarely Imaged Small DSOs