Object of the Week, 3 April 2022 - An obscure alignment in UMa

[Clear Skies]

Spring is here. Galaxies galore. For this week's OOTW I decided to go with an obscure group in Ursa Major. Some aperture required.

UGC7064A lives in the north-northeastern regions of the Great Bear. Brightest galaxy in the vicinity is NGC3945, 1.4 degrees to the east.

But if it carries the designation UGC7064A, there sure must be a UGC7064 without the A..? There is, but it's 29 degrees to the south-southwest, also in Ursa Major and better known as the group Holmberg 232 / Rose 8 / KTG 41.

Here is our object of the week, @ 12:04:44 +60d40m20s. Both images are only 5 minutes of arc in size:

dss.gif sdss.jpg

In NED it is listed as a galaxy triple with a population count of 4 (...). It's a bit of a confusing mess when it comes to designations. Let's break it down.

Starting in the west, we see a bright little fellow. NED designates it UGC7064A NED01. But it's a star, as confirmed by SDSS, known as 4UCAC754-046749 (a.k.a. SDSS J120441.17+604019.3).

West of center is the brightest galaxy of the bunch: PGC38217, UGC7064A NED02. SIMBAD says this is both UGC7064A & B, where NED does not list anything other than -A, but only for the group as a whole. Its nucleus is a tad fainter than the star to its west appears to be.

Directly north-northeast is an extremely faint one: SDSS J120443.44+604027.3, (.2 in NED, but that may be a typo).

To the east of PGC38217 is PGC200281, UGC7064A NED03. Like its sibling to the west it is very small and faint, but it does sport a prominent dark lane along with a nucleus. SIMBAD says it's UGC7064C.

I think it's clear to conclude that the two PGC galaxies are interacting. The long east-northeast to west-southwest extending lane, that appears to be passing through both galaxies, is evident.

The easternmost galaxy is SDSS J120448.91+604019.6. It too reveals a nucleus. Its redshift indicates it is in the distant background and not a physical member of this group.

There's little to none information about this group on the web. This image on Flickr is a beauty, though: https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/48267298226
As the image reveals, SDSS J120441.17+604019.3 is indeed as star. To its west, on the western edge of the extending lane, is yet another faint galaxy. It may be SDSS J120439.72+604016.1, although classified as a star in SDSS.

As always, I have pieced together an observing guide for this OOTW. Click here to download it.

UGC7064A-1.jpg UGC7064A-2.jpg UGC7064A-3.jpg

Well... you know what to do! Use Jimi's scope, and let us know.