Explanation:
This intriguing trio of galaxies is sometimes
called the Draco Group, located in the northern
constellation of (you guessed it)
Draco.
From left to right are
edge-on spiral NGC 5981,
elliptical galaxy NGC 5982, and
face-on spiral NGC 5985 --
all within this single telescopic
field of view spanning a little more than
half the width of the full moon.
While the group is far too small to be a
galaxy cluster
and has not been
cataloged
compact group, these galaxies all do lie roughly
100 million light-years from planet Earth.
On close examination with spectrographs, the bright core of the
striking face-on spiral NGC 5985 shows
prominent emission in specific wavelengths of light, prompting
astronomers to classify it as a
Seyfert, a type of active galaxy.
Not as well known as other tight
groupings of galaxies,
the contrast in visual appearance
makes this triplet an attractive subject for
astrophotographers.
This impressively
deep exposure of the region also reveals faint
and even more distant
background galaxies.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090701.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
