Hickson 44 - Galaxy Cluster in the constellation Leo

This small but very beautiful group of galaxies is located in the constellation Leo. It contains 3 spiral galaxies and one elliptical galaxy. The two central spiral galaxies with their deformed spiral arms clearly show the gravitational interaction between the galaxies.

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Date:10.-22.05.2023
Optics: Planewave CDK 12.5 with Televue 0.8x reducer
Aperture: 318 mm
Focal Length: 2030 mm
Camera: Alccd 12
Exposure: 32 x 600 s
Location: Chamaeleon Observatory, Onjala Lodge, Namibia
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop
Diameter:300,000 light years (diameter of the group)
Distance:60 million light years
annotated image

image field in the sky