Triplet for the dob mob - NGC 5222 group

[mdstuart]

Lovely transparent sky yesterday after a day of showers with those super cumulonimbus clouds with anvils.

After a few individual galaxies, I observed a lovely but faint triplet. NGC 5222/5221/5230. Research indicates they are 300 million light years away. They are quite hard to find by star hoping as they are between Bootes Coma and Virgo. I was trying to visualise where they are in 3D. They are in the general direction of the Virgo group but four times away.

Turns out there is a lot of information out their as they include ARP 288 as one of the objects has a tidal tail, I am sure it will be on OOTW on the deep sky forum and loads of big dob users will have made out the tidal tail. I see a video astronomer on here has imaged it.

Here is the best image I can find of them.

So in the middle is 5222. It was a averted vision fuzzy circular object in my 16 inch in mag 5 skies. This is how the typical elliptical looks to me at the eyepiece. It was quite a hard spot. Then we have a classic face on spiral at the bottom left which is NGC 5230. This was slightly harder to spot as it had a low surface brightness again typical of a face on spiral. I then went after 5221. After a lot of effort I spotted the star between 5222 and 5221 and finally aided by the two pointer stars at the top left of this image I managed to see it intermittently with averted vision.

Here is my drawing.

So next time you are looking at M3 or perhaps the usual suspects in the Coma group or maybe Virgo galaxies why not go in between and look at this one. I bet there is a good image of this in that ARP book I saw at the Peak Star Party.

Maybe Owen will do this group on the Web Deep Sky web site one day

Go on add it to your to do observing list, you know you want to.

Mark

[Knighty2112]

Nice work Mark. Well done!  

[mapstar]

Nice write up Mark. It is right in the North corner of Virgo next to the border of Bootes/Coma may get a look at it tonight if the weather plays ball up here 

[Guest]

It has not been on the OOTW yet so you are OK there :-) There is also a fourth galaxy NGC 5226 in that group discovered by Dreyer with the 72" at Birr. I suspect that will be out of your range but maybe in range of the large Dobs on here.

 

Owen

[mapstar]

1 hour ago, obrazell said:

It has not been on the OOTW yet so you are OK there :-) There is also a fourth galaxy NGC 5226 in that group discovered by Dreyer with the 72" at Birr. I suspect that will be out of your range but maybe in range of the large Dobs on here.

 

Owen

Mag 15.8 according to the software I use and DSO browser so should be achievable from a dark site with slightly bigger aperture 

Edited April 2, 2017 by mapstar

[Guest]

Yes there seems to be some variation in the magnitude depending on what software you use, which may reflect whether it is a B magnitude or a V magnitude. I have seen it listed as faint as 16.7. Givent that I suspect that the 72 could not have seen that faint I suspect the brighter magnitude maybe nearer the truth.

 

Owen

[DeepSkyBagger]

From the Uranometria Deep-Sky Field Guide, which for me is the most reliable source for magnitudes:

NGC 5221 m=13.0, SB=13.5

NGC 5222 m=13.1, SB not given

NGC 5226 neither magnitude nor SB given

NGC 5230 m=12.2, SB=13.2

In any event, 5226 is going to be a real toughie. NGC 'extremely faint, pretty small.'

Good luck with that one!

[Stu]

When I read the title, I thought you were suggesting a triplet Apo for the dob mob!!

[estwing]

Yes where did that ARP book go?...!!

[mapstar]

3 minutes ago, estwing said:

Yes where did that ARP book go?...!!

[Guest]

OK at the Kelling 2017 Spring star party we tried for this group and found the main triplet very easily in 22" and 24" telescopes. We also found a galaxy that we thought was NGC5226 but it turned out to be a fainter non NGC galaxy in the field. Later NGC 5226 was found but ithe 24".  Mostly i think because we had not got a chart with us the first shot and mistook the identity. I find it interesting that the Birr observers missed the other galaxy as it was fairly easy.

 

Owen

[NGCLes]

Hi All,

Interesting post.

I was editing my log into a text document the other day when I came upon my observation of this group -- an observation that includes NGC 5226.

Is part of the NGC 5230 group, 16’ NW of NGC 5230. NGC 5226 is an exceptionally faint and tiny galaxy. Occasionally, barely visible as a 10" spot of the weakest gossamer no structure.  I see this galaxy was discovered by Dryer himself with the 72" at Birr Castle. There are no observing notes on the NGC/IC site by S Gottlieb. Am I the first person to actually see this galaxy -- 18^th April 2010 since its discovery in 1877?

And so I started to search to see if anyone else had observed it visually -- and arrived here.

And the question I posed myself remains. I know that Steve Gottlieb observed this galaxy with a 24" in 2013 but has anyone else spotted it visually?

Am I the first to actually see it since Dryer in 1877?

Best

NGCLes.

[Guest]

As Steve also says he was not able to see it with a 17.5" it may depend on what size telescope you are using as to whether youc an claim to have seen it. I would also post on the CN forums as they are more likely to have large telescope users active in that kind of time frame.

 

Owen

[alan potts]

I tried these from here a couple of years back and failed. My sky is generally very good indeed but I feel it is a hard target to drop on without a very good goto system. I feel you have done very well indeed grabbing the triplet, not as easy as the one in Leo.

Alan