This
Astrobin Debut Object is a galaxy group of 4 galaxies, called Hickson 3, located in the constellation of Cetus at a declination of -8 degrees. A 5th faint galaxy is seen to the lower left, but this galaxy is not part of the Hickson 3 group.
Galaxies 3a and 3c are classified as spirals, while galaxies 3b and 3d are classified as lenticulars. The 2 spirals appear to be grand design spirals, with opposing strong point symmetric arms.
Like most Hickson objects, this is not a true cluster. 3 of the galaxies (a, b, & d) are about the same distance away at 350 million light years, but not likely close enough to each other to be interacting.
The 4th galaxy (3c) is much further away at 0.5 billion light years. This galaxy is the largest of the group in actual size, at a Milky Way size 110,000 light years in diameter.
All 4 of these galaxies are magnitude 15 and 16 galaxies.
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.
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