Observation by Alan Thomas: NGC 1516 A Remote Pair of Spiral Galaxie...

Uploaded by

Alan Thomas

Observer

Alan Thomas

Observed

2026 Jan 09 - 23:53

Uploaded

2026 Jan 28 - 10:22

Objects

NGC1516

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Constellation

Eridanus

Field centre

RA: 04^h08^m
Dec: -08°49'
Position angle: -2°04'

Field size

0°11' × 0°11'

Equipment

PlaneWave 60cm f/6.5 CDK24 Corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph
FLI ProLine KAF-16803 camera
10Micron GM4000 mount

Exposure

60sec.

Location

Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife

Target name

NGC 1516 A Remote Pair of Spiral Galaxies in Eridanus

Title

NGC 1516 A Remote Pair of Spiral Galaxies in Eridanus

About this image

This remote pair of galaxies has a complex labelling history, having originally been thought (by William Herschel) to be a single object.

The upper galaxy, PGC 14515, is a mag. 14.3 spiral galaxy and the lower, PGC 14516, is a mag.13.8 spiral . The pair lie at a distance of c.450million ly and are of similar diameter (c.85,000ly). The pair are at most a few million light years apart.

A distance of 450 million light-years means, more or less, that the light from these galaxies has be heading our way since the Late Ordovician Extinction here on Earth - which is a long time ago!

In this PIRATE image, the nuclei and disks can be seen but the spiral arms are not visible. The lower galaxy shows a large brighter patch below the nucleus.

Files associated with this observation

NGC1516 PIRATE (2).jpg (42.4 kB)

Like this image

Andy Wilson, Dominic Ford, Nicholas Freeman, Callum Potter

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