H-NGC5982
Galaxy in Draco
About
An elliptical galaxy in Draco, about 123 million light-years away, seen with edge-on NGC 5981 and face-on NGC 5985 as the Draco Trio. About 26 shells in its outer envelope are thought to be left over from a merger with a smaller elliptical. It is on the Herschel 400 list.
Imaging tips
- About 3×2′, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- The other two members of the trio sit in the wider field around it, and one imager framed all three at about 924 mm.
- That imager gathered 5.7 hours in 120-second subs and found the small galaxies hard to bring detail out of, needing heavy deconvolution.
- Best around May and June; it peaks near 81° altitude from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 3′ × 2′
- Magnitude
- 11.1
- Coordinates
- RA 15h 38.6m, Dec +59° 21′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- May, Jun
- Peak altitude
- 81° from 50°N, 66° from 35°N