Arp 51
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This is another of the
"twofers" -- Arp 51 is the tiny galaxy just south and west of the center
of the field. The larger pair north and slightly east of the
center is Arp 144. Arp 51 is in the class Spirals with Small HSB Companions on Arms, but you really need
to study the 2x detail image below to see the companion. There appear to be
two. The largest and brightest is at the end of the short linear structure pointing
east, and that was probably the basis for the classification, but the brighter
object northwest of the core is also likely to be a companion. An earlier
image, which can be seen on the Extras page, showed three bright points in a line on the west side of the galaxy.
They do not show up on the Atlas image, or in this new image. I
had originally thought that they might be dusty (and therefore red)
star-forming regions in the galaxy. Their absence in this longer
image indicates that they were cosmic ray hits or hot pixels that were
not completely calibrated out.
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| 10-inch Newtonian, StarlightXpress MX716, 65 minutes, 11.7' x 10.8' | |
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