NGC 3169

The photo shows a gravitationally bound triplet of galaxies that are part of the NGC 3169 group in the constellation Sextant: NGC 3169, NGC 3166, NGC 3156.

The spiral arms of NGC 3169 are literally being pulled out by gravitational interactions with the neighboring galaxy NGC 3166 and appear as sweeping tidal tails. Both galaxies are inexorably striving towards the fate of one day merging into one galaxy. Compared to the Milky Way, these are small galaxies, with the larger of the three having a maximum size of just 70,000 light years.

What is striking in this image is the so-called “galatic envelope”, which presents itself here as a veil. This envelope is formed by individual stars that have been torn out of the galaxies and now form this veil as “orphaned star nations”.

This formation was discovered by the German-British astronomer, musician and composer Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel on December 19, 1783.

This image is special for us star photographers simply because of the enormously long exposure time. This image contains a total of 87 hours of pure exposure time.

Coordinates:
RA: 10h 14m 15,050.2s
DC: +03° 27′ 57,875″

Exposure time:
87 hours