Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5216  ·  NGC 5218
Arp 104 - Keenan's System, James E.
Powered byPixInsight

Arp 104 - Keenan's System

Arp 104 - Keenan's System, James E.
Powered byPixInsight

Arp 104 - Keenan's System

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Arp 104 consists of a pair of luminous interacting galaxies - NGC 5216, an elliptical, and NGC 5218, a disturbed disk galaxy - joined by a stellar bridge.  In 1935, Philip C. Keenan first noted and published a paper about the luminous material connecting the galaxies.

While both galaxies contain shells, the shell structures in NGC 5218 are pronounced and some appear to be associated with counter-rotating gas.  This combination of features suggests that Arp 104 could be the product of distinct multiple interactions of a small galaxy group.  The tidal tail of NGC 5216 is the only region with confirmed recent star formation as indicated by its blue colors.  NGC 5218 displays the bluest colors in the outer shell regions where relative star formation rates currently are low and red colors in the dusty central high star formation rate zone.  Details of the Arp 104 system can be found in the paper "Optical Structure and Evolution of the Arp 104 Interacting Galaxy System," Gallagher, et al., Astrophysical Journal, August 2010.

The small spiral to left of Arp 104 is the galaxy PGC 2639287.

Imaged over several nights:  Apr 23-25, 2023.

Comments