Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Pavo (Pav)  ·  Contains:  IC 4836  ·  IC 4842  ·  IC 4845  ·  NGC 6769  ·  NGC 6770  ·  NGC 6771
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
Powered byPixInsight

Field of small galaxies in the Pavo 'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
Powered byPixInsight

Field of small galaxies in the Pavo 'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Another traget in order to know the limits of our set-up :

Field with many little galaxies, in the center you can see the trio "Devil Mask"

This is a superb triple system NGC 6769-71, located in the southern constellation of Pavo (the Peacock) at a distance of 190 million light-years.

The two upper galaxies, NGC 6770 (right) and NGC 6769 (left), are of equal brightness and size, while NGC 6771 (upper) is about half as bright and slightly smaller. All three galaxies possess a central bulge of similar brightness. They consist of elderly, reddish stars and that of NGC 6771 is remarkable for its "boxy" shape, a rare occurrence among galaxies.

NGC 6769 is a spiral galaxy with very tightly wound spiral arms, while NGC 6770 has two major spiral arms, one of which is rather straight and points towards the outer disc of NGC 6769. NGC 6770 is also peculiar in that it presents two comparatively straight dark lanes and a fainter arc that curves towards the third galaxy, NGC 6771 (below). It is also obvious from this new VLT photo that stars and gas have been stripped off NGC 6769 and NGC 6770, starting to form a common envelope around them, in the shape of a Devil's Mask. There is also a weak hint of a tenuous bridge between NGC 6769 and NGC 6771. All of these features testify to strong gravitational interaction between the three galaxies. The warped appearance of the dust lane in NGC 6771 might also be interpreted as more evidence of interactions. Moreover, NGC 6769 and NGC 6770 are receding from us at a similar velocity of about 3800 km/s - a redshift just over 0.01 - while that of NGC 6771 is slightly larger, 4200 km/s.

As dramatic and destructive as this may seem, such an event is also an enrichment, a true baby-star boom. A cosmic catastrophe like this one normally results in the formation of many new stars. This is obvious from the blueish nature of the spiral arms in NGC 6769 and NGC 6770 and the presence of many sites of star forming regions



in the left bottom IC 4836 a Barred Spiral Galaxy (version B)

at the right center : IC 4845 a Barred Spiral Galaxy (version C)

and many others little objects in the field....

Comments

Revisions

  • Final
    Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
    Original
  • Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
    B
  • Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
    C
  • Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos
    D

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Field of small galaxies in the Pavo  'NGC 6769-6770-6771, IC 4836, IC 4842, IC 4845, Los_Calvos