The bigger of these two Doradus galaxies is NGC1617, a (R')SAB(rs)a-typed barred spiral. With a brightness of 10.5 mag and an apparent size of 4,3′ × 2,1′ it is an easy telescope object, even for visual observers.
The real distance of this galaxy is about 48 mio. light-years.The smaller galaxy, IC2085,belongs together with NGC1617 to the Dorado group of galaxies.
NGC1617 was discovered in 1826 by James Dunlop.
position (epoch 2000):
RA.: 04h 31m 39,5s
Decl.: -54° 36m 08,2s
image data:
LRGB image with L = 18x1200s, RGB = 5x1200s each, a total of 11 hours
80cm f/7 AstroOptik Keller corrected cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803 Astrodon LRGB GenII filters
Prompt 7 CTIO/UNC Chile, remote controlled image
image processing: Bernd Flach-Wilken
this picture shows NGC1617 and IC 2085 in an 98% FOV of the FLI-camera.Click here for a full-resolution picture
here is a more detailed look:
here is a look to the core of NGC1617,taken with the HST