AAO image reference AAT 99. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 9.5 arc min
Image and text © 1993-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
NGC 5078 is a lenticular (lens-shaped) galaxy crossed by a distinct dusty band which is seen against the bright background of the galaxy itself. The dust lane is warped and broadened, probably by interaction with the faint companion galaxy IC 879, which is itself distorted into an 'S' shape by the interaction. The slightly bluish colour of parts of the fainter galaxy is suggestive of star formation, probably triggered by the interaction. Encounters between galaxies such as this are common, and often lead to them merging into a single entity. It is likely that the dust lane of NGC 5078 is the remnant of a dusty spiral which fell into it long ago. Tha galaxies are about 80 million light years distant
Entry from NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
IC 879 Gx 13 19.7 -27 26 c Hya1.3 eF, pL, iR, dif NGC 5078 Gx 13 19.8 -27 24 s Hya3.2 12. p pB, pS, cE, psbM, *7-8 fMore data about these galaxies is accessible from the hotlinked NGC/IC name and is reproduced
with permission from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
Related Image
n5101d Deep image of NGC 5078 and NGC 5101
For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.