20. Is it the Sculptor Group? No, I'm afraid not.

The object in question is the luminous infrared galaxy ESO 593-IG 008 or IRAS 19115-2124, the so-called Cosmic Bird or Cosmic Tinker Bell, which is a merger of three galaxies, two spirals and an irrregular or one spiral and two irregulars depending upon the source.

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/12...hree-galaxies/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1220195632.htm

http://jumk.de/astronomie/galaxies/eso-593-ig-008.shtml

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Wow, tough!

I guess that means Dave has to ask another question.

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Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

Finally, a winner. Nice Dave.

Do another.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

It was on the tip of my tongue!

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- Learn a lot teaching others.

I had a hunch it would be an x-ray galaxy interacting with one or more neighbors. Oh well.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

Well, alrighty then!

I have a celestial object in mind. What is it?

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it in the Milky Way (galaxy)?

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Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it smaller than 1 cubic light year?

__________________
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is nuclear fusion happening there?

__________________
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it a compact object (denser than the core of a star with active fusion)?

I hope this doesn't count as a separate question - when you say your object does not reside in the Milky Way, does your definition of Milky Way include the spherical halo (globulars, isolated stars, gas, Dark Matter and such), or is it restricted to the band of stars/gas/dust that we in our own night sky?

__________________
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

The "(galaxy)" in my question was meant to specify the former definition.

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Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Is it less than 1 million light years away from us?

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it a black hole?

__________________
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it a supermassive black hole?

__________________
- Learn a lot teaching others.

Hey! that would have been my question.

__________________
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem.