Tag Archives: galaxy cluster

Dark Matter, NGC 672 & IC 1727

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NGC 672 & IC 1727

Could dark matter be influencing the interaction of galaxies NGC 672 & IC 1727?

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: Yes
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frames: 20, 6-min. exposures
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time: 120 min. (20 x 6 min.)
  • ISO: 800
  • Processing: Photoshop CC
  • Imaging Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains (Altitude: 8,600 ft)

Around 20 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum, dark matter could be dominating the behavior of several galaxies. In a 2008 paper, astronomers Zitrin and Brosch observed that NGC 672, IC 1727, and 12 smaller galaxies all seem to be moving together with a long filament of dark matter stretching across 6° of sky, or 1.7 million light-years. NGC 672 and IC 1727 are the two largest galaxies in the above image (left and right, respectively). This filament of dark matter, they believe, also stimulates the nearly simultaneous creation of new stars within the galaxies that are caught in its gravitational grip.

Through the telescope, NGC 672 and IC 1727 can be seen huddled together less than 90,000 light-years apart. At 26 million light-years away, they form a relatively close galactic pair to us. But far more distant galaxies also can be spotted in the image above. Arrows identify two of these remote galaxies and their distances, estimated from their cataloged redshifts.

[For Michael, whose intellect and compassion brightened our lives.]

The Leo Triplet

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Leo Triplet

A trio of galaxies gathers together in the constellation Leo.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: Yes
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frames: 21, 300-s subframes stacked (105 min.)
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time(s): 105 min. (21 x 5 min.)
  • ISO: 800
  • Processing: Photoshop CC
  • Imaging Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains (Altitude: 8,600 ft)

Springtime is galaxy season for astronomers in the Northern Hemisphere, when looking up means looking out of the plane of our galaxy and into the reaches of deep space where billions of other galaxies can be found. About 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo is a trio of galaxies called the Leo Triplet performing a primordial gravitational dance together.

The Leo Triplet includes M65 (lower left), M66 (upper left), and NGC 3628 (lower right).

Virgo Cluster: Markarian’s Chain

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Markarian's Chain

Markarian's Chain forms part of a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo.

  • Telescope: Stellarvue SVA130T-IS
  • Mount: Losmandy G-11 with Gemini 2 controller
  • Autoguiding: Yes
  • Optical Configuration: 0.72x field flattener & reducer (f/5)
  • Camera: Canon 60Da
  • Light Frames: 14, 300-s subframes stacked (70 min.)
  • Calibration: None (no darks, no flats, no biases)
  • Exposure Time(s): 70 min. (14 x 5 min.)
  • ISO: 800
  • Processing: Photoshop CC
  • Imaging Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains (Altitude: 8,600 ft)

Each spring the constellation Virgo rules the nighttime sky, where a telescope can find dozens of galaxies vying for attention among the stars. This image reveals part of a galaxy cluster in Virgo called Markarian’s Chain, named after the Armenian astrophysicist Benjamin Markarian.

Markarian’s Chain features a veritable zoo of galaxy types that includes elliptical, lenticular, and spiral. Many of the galaxies of Markarian’s Chain are also gravitationally attracted to each other and move together through space.

The Virgo Cluster is the closest group of galaxies to our own Milky Way and contains upwards of 2,000 galaxies. The galaxies in this image range between 46 million and 126 million light-years from Earth.

[For Ron, whose heart and soul will forever belong to the cosmos.]