Messier 53 and NGC 5053 (Jim Stevenson)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com) · Contains: M 53 · NGC 5024 · NGC 5053

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Messier 53 and NGC 5053

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Messier 53 and NGC 5053

Messier 53 and NGC 5053
Two Globular Clusters in the constellation Coma Berenices

Some things that are close together in the sky are actually very far apart in space - I've posted several such images, like the Fireworks Galaxy and Ghost Bush Cluster from June of last year.

This very interesting pair, however, are relatively close together in space - about 6500 light years apart, about 58,000 light years from us, orbiting about that same distance from the center of our galaxy. The two are joined by a "tidal stream" and shared halo of stars (too faint to be seen in this picture), indicating that they have passed very close to each other in the not-too-distant past and are gravitationally "entwined."

What's more, it appears that NGC 5053 and possibly also M53 originated with the very strange "Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy," a Milky Way satellite galaxy whose orbit is smaller than the diameter of the spiral arms, such that it passes through the plane of our galaxy as it orbits. The stars of this galaxy have been strewn along it's orbit by gravitational interactions, such that it forms a loop passing over the Milky Way galactic poles. M53 and NGC 5053 apparently orbit within this looping stream.

Tech stuff: Askar FRA400 72mm Refractor Telescope, ZWO ASI533MC-P camera, Baader Moon & Sky Glow filter, Orion Sirius mount. 195x60s exposures (3:15). Captured 4/29 and 5/29/22 from my home in Rhinebeck, NY.

Northeast Imagers
Messier Objects

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Messier 53 and NGC 5053

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