Arp 227, NGC 474 and maybe NGC 470. It is classed by Arp under "Galaxies not classifiable as S(piral) or E(lliptical); concentric rings". NGC 474 is a classic shell galaxy. These are usually the result of a merger though there's no evidence of this in this case. All stars in it have a common motion. Normally if there's a recent merger there are two families of stellar motion evident in the galaxy. That isn't the case here. It could be due to a close encounter with its neighbor NGC470 or more distant neighbor NGC 467 in the lower right corner. Note that NGC 467 also has a tidal tail. NGC 474 is 93 million light years away based on redshift, NGC 470 is 95 million light years distant but NGC 467 has a redshift consistent with a distance of 235 million light years! If NGC 470 caused the distortions in 474 why isn't it similarly distorted as its mass appears less it should be even more torn up? If 467 is involved it must have been a high speed pass due to its high radial velocity. If it wasn't how did it get torn up? Nearby, mostly off the lower edge of my image is CGCG 385-068 which has a similar red shift to that of NGC 467. It does appear to have a small tidal arm coming off its upper left end. Did that distort NGC 467? The near edge on vertical spiral two stars left of NGC 467 likely is a member of the Arp 227 group at 88 million light years. So is the redshift of NGC 467 very misleading? If right it is 2.5 times farther away than the other major galaxies in the image yet doesn't appear that distant based on its angular size. Right from 470 and a bit up, half way to the edge is [WGB2006] 011712+03080_c a bright infra red galaxy 600 million light years away. Most of the rest of the galaxies in the image have no red shift data available for them. Arp 227 is in the constellation of Pisces just north of the border with Cetus.

Two blue quasars are at the bottom of NGC470 at the SE edge. Dim one is magnitude 19.9 and 10.2 billion light years away. The brighter is magnitude 18.2 and 9.5 billion light years away.

Arp's photo:
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level...ig_arp227.jpeg

For a really deep negative image of the area see:
http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~mischa...ngc474_neg.jpg
It shows even more distortion to NGC 467 than my shot as much of the NW arc around it is out of my frame. I do need to revisit this area when it gets out of the sun with much more exposure time and moved to the NE 5 minutes or a bit more. I really wasn't considering NGC 467 at the time.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=6x10' RGB=2x10', STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Image with less compression
http://www.spacebanter.com/attachmen...tid=2426&stc=1

Rick

Attached Images

ARP227LUM6X10RGB2X10X3r2-7.jpg (108.6 KB, 38 views)

Hi Rick.
All of your photos are a joy to look at. If there is such a thing as master rank/belt in astrophotography you are there. Thanks for sharing your photos and your knowledge with us. Clear skies to you. Paul

Another fine image of a very peculiar galaxy, many questions to be ask with so many variables. I could see in the negative more evident the shell you described and the distorted arms surrounding it. And I concur with Paul, And Clear Skies my friend.

That's a very cool looking galaxy. Great image!

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Observatorio de la Ballona

Wow very cool, great image I love it.

Great job on a very interesting subject. Thanks Rick.

Kent