Seyfert's Sextet
| Seyfert's Sextet | |
|---|---|
| File:Seyfert Sextet full.jpg | |
| Observation data (Epoch J2000) | |
| Constellation | Serpens |
| Right ascension | 15h 59m 11.9s[1] |
| Declination | +20° 45′ 31″[1] |
| Brightest member | NGC 6027 |
| Number of galaxies | 6[1] |
| Other designations | |
| Serpens Sextet, HCG 79, UGC 10116, VV 115, VII Zw 631[1] | |
Seyfert's Sextet is a group of galaxies about 190 million light-years away[2] in the constellation Serpens. The group appears to contain six members, but one of the galaxies, NGC 6027d, is a background object (700 million light years behind the group) and another "galaxy," NGC 6027e, is actually a part of the tail from galaxy NGC 6027. The gravitational interaction among these galaxies should continue for hundreds of millions of years. Ultimately, the galaxies will merge to form a single giant elliptical galaxy.
Discovery
[edit | edit source]French astronomer Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 6027 on 20 March 1882, but he was unable to resolve the individual galaxies in the group.[3] The group members were discovered by Carl Keenan Seyfert using photographic plates made at the Barnard Observatory of Vanderbilt University. When these results were first published in 1951, this group was the most compact group ever identified.[4]
Members
[edit | edit source]| Name | Type | Distance from Sun (million ly) |
Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 6027 | S0 pec. | ~190 | +14.7 |
| NGC 6027a | Sa pec. | ~190 | +15.4 |
| NGC 6027b | S0 pec. | ~190 | +15.4 |
| NGC 6027c | SB(S)c | ~190 | +16 |
| NGC 6027d | SB(S)bc pec. | ~877[5] | +15.6 |
| NGC 6027e | Tidal Tail. | ~190 | +16.5 |
See also
[edit | edit source]- Wild's Triplet
- Zwicky's Triplet
- Robert's Quartet
- Stephan's Quintet and NGC 7331 Group (also known as the Deer Lick Group); about half a degree northeast of Stephan's Quintet
- Copeland Septet
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- ASAHI Net Free Address Service: Seyfert's Sextet (Galaxy Group in Serpens) Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Seyfert's Sextet (24 January 2003)
- SEDS: Seyfert's Sextet (HCG 79)
- Seyfert's Sextet on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
