AP#67 : NGC 5981/5982/5985
Name: The "Draco trio"
Constellation:Draco
Instrument:
Image 1: 8-inch F5 reflector with sky watcher coma corrector and a modified Nikon D3300.
Image 2:8-inch F5 reflector with sky watcher coma corrector and ZWO ASI585 MC camera (gain 252 -20C).
Exposure time:
Image 1: A stack of 16 five-minute exposures at ISO 800.
Image 2: A stack of 9 three-minute and 16 five-minute exposures.
Star Chart from Michael Vlasov's Deep sky hunter star atlas available on line https://www.deepskywatch.com/deep-sky-hunter-atlas.html
Magnitude:
NGC 5981 - 14.2
NGC 5982 - 11.0
NGC 5985 - 14.2
Angular size:
NGC 5981- 2.6' X 0.3'
NGC 5982 - 3.0' X 2.1'
NGC 5985 - 5.5'
These three galaxies are all below the 10' of arc limit I had placed on the size of objects. However, they are an interesting grouping that shows three different galaxy classifications (5981 - edge-on, 5982 - elliptical, 5985 - spiral) next to each other. That makes them unique and a celestial showpiece. Visually, they require large telescopes to see.
This image was taken with a ZWO 585 camera shows the three galaxies (as well as a few other small ones).
