VV 259 in Coma

[Mike JW]

On 31^st March it was a particularly clear transparent night. I sent the scope to VV 259 in Coma and as usual waited to see what would appear. This shot got me so excited. There is so much going on here.

VV 259 is the pair in contact just left of centre. They are designated PK, meaning pair in contact. They share the PGC designation 409101 and both are being distorted. The left one has a more well-defined nucleus. Mag 16 and 17, both spirals.

Off to the right of VV 259 is UGC 7576 (mag 15.9). Strange tidal tails on either side of the galaxy. Freaky, so what is causing those features, especially as they are so symmetrical. A barred spiral.

Now go past 7576 and down, look just below the star. There lurks PGC 1843788, mag 18.6.

Go to the left and down a bit from VV259 and a faint patch of fuzz. This PGC 1839783, mag 17.6, an elliptical and 290 million lyrs away

The big wow factor is the galaxy NGC 4448 -mag 11.2 and what a beauty. A barred spiral (SBab) and hints of dark dust lanes. So beautifully symmetrical. 78 million lyrs away. I cannot see a bar.

To the right of 4448 is another faint galaxy (PGC 1843133) with obvious loose spiral arms (Sc) and mag 16 and 746 million lyrs away. This must be big and its brightness possibly due to it being actively forming stars?

A little further to the right is PGC 1843743, mag 17 and a barred spiral (SBbc) and 752 million lyrs away. Could it in time interact with PGC 1843133?

All of this seen under a very bright moonlit sky. At the time of the shot the scope was glistening with frost, I was having to pace up and down to keep warm....Always amazed what EEVA can achieve.

Mike

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Mike JW
a typo

[Martin Meredith]

I have to agree, there is a lot going on in this field -- as is often the case (I sometimes wonder why EEVA is seen as a 'brief' observing approach when it can take 10-20 minutes to track down and enjoy all that there is in a single field). The detail you're getting in the NGC galaxy is amazing. The bright inner ring seems to be split (is this the dust lane you're referring to?). I had to look it up in my Herschel Objects guide. Nothing much to add to your description except that it was discovered on 11th April 1785.

Not bad at f6.3 in 10s subs either...

Martin 

[Mike JW]

Hi Martin, I was amazed by the detail in NGC 4448. Just out of shot (up) is another VV galaxy so I did a second shot to capture this VV . Again 4448 was in the fov and had equally clear detail. I put this down to these very transparent skies (absolutely convinced that the lack of aircraft pollution is giving a definite improved sky). The dust lane I refer to is as you suggest. I probably should do an enlarged annotated picture and see what else is revealed - on the list for today. The advantage of the C11 as we know is that I get a view, quicker due to the large aperture.

Now added. Enlarged NGC 4448 below - clearly shows a prominent inner ring but I still cannot see a bar. Cseligman gives a classification as SB(r) ab - a barred spiral with a ring and tight spiral arms - that would seem to fit except for the bar? Professional images lack any blue areas, suggesting there is  little of no star burst activity. There seems to be a couple of dust lanes.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Edited April 3, 2020 by Mike JW
more info added