This
Astrobin Debut Object is a galaxy group of 5 galaxies, called Hickson 59, located in the constellation of Leo at a declination of +13 degrees.
4 of the galaxies (59a-d) are in the neighborhood of 200 million light years away, but not close enough to each other to be interacting. 59a, also known as IC 737, is the brightest galaxy at magnitude 13.5. All 4 of these galaxies are fairly small, with 59b being the largest at 60,000 light years in diameter. The most interesting galaxy is 59d, an irregular galaxy with numerous bright blue star-forming clouds. It reminds me of
NGC 4449.
59e is much further away, at 1.1 billion light years. It is a grand design spiral galaxy that is Milky Way size, at 120,000 light years in diameter, and the largest of the 5 galaxies in actual size.
The Hickson catalog is a collection of 100 galaxy groups, established by Paul Hickson in 1982. Hickson compact galaxy groups are strictly defined by 3 criteria: number of galaxies, total magnitude, and isolation 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.
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