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.
| Seyfert's Sextet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Observation data (Epoch J2000) | |
| Constellation(s) | Serpens |
| Right ascension | 15h 59m 11.9s[1] |
| Declination | +20° 45′ 31″[1] |
| Brightest member | NGC 6027 |
| Number of galaxies | 4[1] |
| Other designations | |
| Serpens Sextet, HCG 79, UGC 10116, VV 115, VII Zw 631[1] | |
Discovery
editFrench 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| 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- 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- ^ a b c d "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for HCG 79. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
- ^ "HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Watches Galaxies Engage in Dance of Destruction (12/12/2002) - Release Images". hubblesite.org. Archived from the original on 2007-01-10.
- ^ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue Objects: NGC 6027". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ C. K. Seyfert (1951). "A Dense Group of Galaxies in Serpens". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 371 (371): 72–75. Bibcode:1951PASP...63...72S. doi:10.1086/126319.
- ^ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 6027d. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
External links
edit- 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