Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5981  ·  NGC 5982  ·  NGC 5985
The Draco Triplet, Jan Sjoerd de Vries
The Draco Triplet
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The Draco Triplet

The Draco Triplet, Jan Sjoerd de Vries
The Draco Triplet
Powered byPixInsight

The Draco Triplet

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The Draco triplet NGC 5981, 5982 and 5985 are a fine group of galaxies high in Draco, although not as well known as the Leo triplet. Unlike the Leo triplet however, these galaxies are probably not related and reside at different distances so the triplet is purely a line of sight effect. NGC 5985 (seen face on) is about 120 million light years away, the elliptical galaxy NGC 5982 about 130 million years and the small edge on NGC 5981 about 100 million light years away. However given the errors in astronomical distance measurement they could still be related.

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The Draco Triplet, Jan Sjoerd de Vries