NGC 7606, NGC 7723 & NGC 7727 -- Galaxies in Aquarius
The Herschel 400 Galaxies of the Water-Pourer
This morning the sky was as transparent and dark as it gets from my suburban home. The
three galaxies in the constellation of Aquarius (Water-Pourer) that made the Herschel 400
list require such a night for me to find them with my 155mm refractor from my light polluted
neighborhood.
The most interesting of the three was NGC 7727, which was the only one that showed any
structure (a tight core). The other two were just amorphous glows in the eyepiece. NGC
7727 is classified as a Peculiar Galaxy (Arp 222) because it is the result of two spiral
galaxies that merged approximately 1 billion years ago and currently is a confusing mess
of starlight. Given time it will become a classical elliptical galaxy.
three galaxies in the constellation of Aquarius (Water-Pourer) that made the Herschel 400
list require such a night for me to find them with my 155mm refractor from my light polluted
neighborhood.
The most interesting of the three was NGC 7727, which was the only one that showed any
structure (a tight core). The other two were just amorphous glows in the eyepiece. NGC
7727 is classified as a Peculiar Galaxy (Arp 222) because it is the result of two spiral
galaxies that merged approximately 1 billion years ago and currently is a confusing mess
of starlight. Given time it will become a classical elliptical galaxy.