Seyfert's Sextet Explained

Seyfert's Sextet is a group of galaxies about 190 million light-years away[1] 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

The group was 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.[2]

Members

Members of Seyfert's Sextet
NameTypeDistance from Sun
(million ly)
Magnitude
NGC 6027S0 pec.~190+14.7
NGC 6027aSa pec.~190+15.4
NGC 6027bS0 pec.~190+15.4
NGC 6027cSB(S)c~190+16
NGC 6027dSB(S)bc pec.~877[3] +15.6
NGC 6027eSB0 pec.~190+16.5

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Watches Galaxies Engage in Dance of Destruction (12/12/2002) - Release Images . hubblesite.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070110025235/http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2002/22/image/a/ . 2007-01-10.
  2. C. K. Seyfert . A Dense Group of Galaxies in Serpens . . 1951 . 371 . 371 . 72–75 . 1951PASP...63...72S . 10.1086/126319. free .
  3. Web site: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . Results for NGC 6027d . 2013-04-02.