| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 5981 | Draco | 15h38m / +59°24' | 2.7' x 0.3' | 13.2 mag |
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 5982 | Draco | 15h39m / +59°21' | 2.6' x 1.9' | 11.0 mag |
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 5985 | Draco | 15h40m / +59°20' | 5.5' x 3.0' | 11.1 mag |
The NGC 5982 Group of galaxies in the constellation Draco. Shown are the lenticular galaxy NGC 5976, the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5981, the elliptical galaxy NGC 5982 and the face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 5985. They are 120 ± 40 million light-years from Earth. The three galaxies NGC 5981, NGC 5982 and NGC 5985 are also known as the Draco Trio or the Draco Group, although there is no evidence that they form a compact group. Several other galaxies can be seen in the background (see annotated version further below). NGC 5976 and NGC 5981 were discovered in 1850 by George Stoney, NGC 5982 and NGC 5985 were discovered by William Herschel in 1788 (source: Wikipedia).
Sixty-one 3-minute exposures (195 minutes total exposure) at ISO 800 taken on May 18 / 19, 2020 and on May 20 / 21, 2020 were added for this shot with the DeepSkyStacker software and the final image processing was done in Photoshop.
Equipment: Canon EOS 450D Baader modified camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system (field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same equipment).
