NGC 3020, NGC 3016, NGC 3019, and NGC 3024, Galaxy Group

NGC 3020, NGC 3016, NGC 3019, and NGC 3024
A Galaxy Group in Leo

See second negative image below for identification of these galaxies

Galaxies NGC 3020, NGC 3016, NGC 3019 & NGC 3024; CCD image thru 20 inch
This is a 15-minute exposure with an STL-1301E CCD camera thru Kopernik's 20-inch F/8.1 Ritchey Chretien Cassegrain telescope. The field of view is about 12.5 x 16 arc minutes, with North at the top.

NGC 3020 is a Spiral Galaxy in Leo that has a patchy bright asymmetric bar, and several ill-defined filamentary spiral arms. This galaxy is a part of a four member group which share similar red shifts and thus are likely to make up a true gravitationally bound group. This Galaxy Group made up of four (or five?) members is designated as Holmberg 147 and WBL 243.

NGC 3016 and NGC 3024 are Spiral Galaxies and members of Holmberg 147. NGC 3024 is nearly edge-on. Galaxy NGC 3019 is also a group member and appears to be an Elliptical Galaxy, but the catalogs list its type as "uncertain". Just off the lower right edge of the image above lies 16th magnitude Galaxy CGCG 063-075 of uncertain type. Since it shares a similar red shift with the others it is considered a part of the group. There are several anonymous galaxies in the image that are probably more distant background systems.

Using the red shift data from the “NASA Extra-galactic Data Base(NED)”, (and a Hubble Constant of 73 Km per sec., per Megaparsec), one can calculate a rough distance estimate of 107 million light years for this galaxy group.

NGC 3020

Magnitude: 12.6

Constellation: Leo

RA: 09h 50m 06.6s

Dec: +12° 48' 54" Epoch 2000

Size (mins): 3.2' x 1.6'

Classification: SB(r)cd: Barred Spiral Galaxy, inner ring, peculiar

NGC 3016

Magnitude: 13.8

RA: 09h 49m 51.1s

Dec: +12° 41 '41" Epoch 2000

Size (mins): 1.2' x 0.9'

Classification: Spiral Galaxy

Dreyer's Description in the NGC:

"Very faint, small, round, westward of 2."

NGC 3019

Magnitude: 15.0

RA: 09h 50m 06.0s

Dec: +12° 43' 58" Epoch 2000

Size (mins): 0.8' x 0.4'

Classification: uncertain

Dreyer's Description in the NGC:

"Extremely faint, eastward of 2."

NGC 3024

Magnitude: 13.8

RA: 09h 50m 27.5s

Dec: +12° 45' 57" Epoch 2000

Size (mins): 2.1' x 0.5'

Classification: Sc: sp, Spiral Galaxy (with peculiarities), spindle shaped

Dreyer's Description in the NGC:

"Extremely faint, pretty large, extended, resolvable, but mottled."

George Normandin, KAS

June 8th, 2009

NGC 3020, NGC 3016, NGC 3019, and NGC 3024 A Galaxy Group in Leo

Using the red shift data from the “NASA Extra-galactic Data Base(NED)”, (and a Hubble Constant of 73 Km per sec., per Megaparsec), one can calculate a rough distance estimate of 107 million light years for this galaxy group.

NGC 3020, NGC 3016, NGC 3019, and NGC 3024
A Galaxy Group in Leo