ARP 84 "The Heron" NGC 5394/5395
Published 21 May 2021
Full image field here: Un-cropped full resolution
About this object
ARP84 is a set of peculiar galaxies which are interacting and are gravitationally distorted. NGC 5394 is the smaller of the two and is magnitude 12.1. It has been distorted into a S shape with a small core and long outer arms. NGC 5395 is the larger one and is magnitude 11.5. It has a almost typical spiral shape although one of the arms seems distorted towards NGC 5394. This galaxy pair is called ARP 84, for Halton "Chip" Arp who published a catalog called "Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies" in 1966. The two are also nicknamed "The Heron" for their shape as seen when rotated in a particular direction. The two lie 165 million light years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici. Astronomers believe these two galaxies collided once before and are still in a gravitational tug of war.
The image was taken using my 152mm Stellarvue SVX 152T refractor and ZWO ASI 6200 camera. The image was exposed using 2x2 binning and drizzled up to full resolution of .64 arc sec/pixel in post processing. The image above is a rotated crop of a small portion of the entire field of view. Clicking on the image will take you to a full res version and clicking the un-cropped link below the image will take you to the full resolution un-cropped image. Within the full image you can see many many more faint PGC galaxies and many uncatalogued ones. I included an annotated image showing where these other galaxies are and their designations.
ARP84 is a set of peculiar galaxies which are interacting and are gravitationally distorted. NGC 5394 is the smaller of the two and is magnitude 12.1. It has been distorted into a S shape with a small core and long outer arms. NGC 5395 is the larger one and is magnitude 11.5. It has a almost typical spiral shape although one of the arms seems distorted towards NGC 5394. This galaxy pair is called ARP 84, for Halton "Chip" Arp who published a catalog called "Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies" in 1966. The two are also nicknamed "The Heron" for their shape as seen when rotated in a particular direction. The two lie 165 million light years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici. Astronomers believe these two galaxies collided once before and are still in a gravitational tug of war.
The image was taken using my 152mm Stellarvue SVX 152T refractor and ZWO ASI 6200 camera. The image was exposed using 2x2 binning and drizzled up to full resolution of .64 arc sec/pixel in post processing. The image above is a rotated crop of a small portion of the entire field of view. Clicking on the image will take you to a full res version and clicking the un-cropped link below the image will take you to the full resolution un-cropped image. Within the full image you can see many many more faint PGC galaxies and many uncatalogued ones. I included an annotated image showing where these other galaxies are and their designations.
Image Details
- Optics : Stellarvue SVX 152T refractor @f8 1200mm FL
- Mount: Paramount MYT
- Camera: ZWO ASI6200
- Filters: Chroma 50mm LRGB
- Exposure (min): LRGB 168:225:225:225 14hrs , 2x2 binning
- Automation Control: The Sky X, Voyager, PrimaluceLab Eagle 4
- Guiding: StarlightXpress Lodestar X2
- Processing Software: PixInsight,, Topaz Labs
- Location: Stark Bayou Observatory, Ocean Springs, MS
- Sky: Typical SQM 19.6-20.1, Bortle 5, Suburban
- Date: 23 Feb-12 Apri 2021
