Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2023 July 1
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           Three Galaxies in Draco
     Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]David Vernet , Jean-François Bax ,
                         Serge Brunier, [5]OCA/C2PU

   Explanation: This tantalizing trio of galaxies sometimes called the
   Draco Group, is located in the northern constellation of (you guessed
   it) [6]Draco, the Dragon. From left to right are [7]face-on spiral NGC
   5985, [8]elliptical galaxy NGC 5982, and [9]edge-on spiral NGC 5981,
   all found within this single telescopic field of view that spans a
   little more than the width of the full moon. While the group is far too
   small to be a [10]galaxy cluster, and has not been [11]catalogued as a
   compact galaxy group, the three galaxies all do lie roughly 100 million
   light-years from planet Earth. Not as well known as other tight
   [12]groupings of galaxies, the contrast in visual appearance still
   makes this triplet an attractive subject for astroimagers. On close
   examination with [13]spectrographs, the bright core of striking spiral
   NGC 5985 shows prominent emission in specific wavelengths of light,
   prompting astronomers to classify it as a [14]Seyfert, a type of active
   galaxy. This [15]impressively deep exposure hints at a faint dim halo
   along with sharp-edged shells surrounding elliptical NGC 5982, evidence
   of past galactic mergers. It also reveals many even more [16]distant
   background galaxies.

                     Tomorrow's picture: over and under
     __________________________________________________________________

      [17]< | [18]Archive | [19]Submissions | [20]Index | [21]Search |
   [22]Calendar | [23]RSS | [24]Education | [25]About APOD | [26]Discuss |
                                    [27]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply.
              [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2307/DracoTrio_TeamOmicron.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.astrosurf.com/topic/162191-team-omicron-le-trio-du-dragon/
   5. https://www.oca.eu/fr/c2pu-accueil
   6. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/dra/index.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040410.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060520.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010510.html
  10. http://www.seds.org/messier/gal_clus.html
  11. http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/hickson/hcg/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220718.html
  13. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/how_l1/spectral.html
  14. http://www.seds.org/~spider/spider/ScholarX/seyferts.html
  15. https://www.astrobin.com/os11uz/D/
  16. https://universe.nasa.gov/galaxies/basics/
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230630.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230701
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230702.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/