Starship Asterisk*

For some reason I was checking up galaxy NGC 5121 with my software Guide. NGC 5121 turned out to be a spiral galaxy that could be mistaken for an elliptical, very boring and uninteresting at least at first glance.

Yes, but when looking at the boring elliptical shape of NGC 5121, I suddenly spotted another galaxy to the northeast of it, NGC 5121A. This galaxy has a remarkably long and wiggly jet attached to it, pointing pretty much straight at NGC 5121!

I've searched for pictures of NGC 5121A, but the only picture I've come across so far is the one on this page, which is incredibly blurry and faint. Well, NGC 5121A is a 15th magnitude galaxy. But you can actually just spot the tail stretching downwards and to the right in the picture on the Simbad page.

Has anyone got a better picture?

Ann

There are some images from GALEX, 2MASS, and WISE. I don't see the streak in any of those survey images, but even just looking at the one DSS image it's pretty easily dismissed as a cosmic ray or a piece of dust. (The DSS plates have a lot of stuff on them, including fingerprints, but sometimes a cosmic ray is indistinguishable from a piece of dust.)

I don't know of any detailed closeup images but you can see it in this widefield image by the Atacama Photographic Observatory.

geckzilla wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 6:20 pm There are some images from GALEX, 2MASS, and WISE. I don't see the streak in any of those survey images, but even just looking at the one DSS image it's pretty easily dismissed as a cosmic ray or a piece of dust. (The DSS plates have a lot of stuff on them, including fingerprints, but sometimes a cosmic ray is indistinguishable from a piece of dust.)

It's pretty funny (some would say tragic) how on DSS, ionized OIII emission can be dismissed as dust.
Also the inverse can happen, dust on a DSS plate can be mistaken for ionized OIII emission (by more than one person).
The difference a colour image makes.

starsurfer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:39 pm I don't know of any detailed closeup images but you can see it in this widefield image by the Atacama Photographic Observatory.

Thanks, starsurfer, how interesting! The galaxy certainly didn't "jump out at me" when I looked at the picture. Thanks to the planetary nebula I was able to locate it, by making my software Guide show me all planetary nebulas in the area!

No jet is to be seen in NGC 5121A, as Geck pointed out. It is also clear that the galaxy is slightly bluish and just faint overall. No bright knots are to be seen anywhere, and the central part is weak.

Thanks again!

Ann