Object of the week May 27, 2012 - PGC 53047/46 (MCG+01-38-006) “Kronberger Triangle"

[Uwe Glahn]

PGC 53047/53046 (MCG+01-38-006) aka “Kronberger Triangle”

Galaxy Pair in Virgo

PGC 53047 ("triangle")
14h51m24.5s +06d47m57s ; V = 14,86 (NED); 1’x0,3’ (=Anon 1448+07 B, IRAS 14489+0700, 2MASX J14512435+0648048)

PGC 53046
14h51m23.3s +06d48m06s ; V = 16,34 (LEDA),6’x0,4’ ; (=Anon 1448+07 A, 2MASX J14512204+0648148)

The galaxy pair was named after Matthias Kronberger, member of the Deep Sky Hunter group who gave me the idea.
The unusual detail is the triangle shape of PGC 53047. The structure has an exceptional high surface brightness so that it could be seen in middle to bigger aperture.

With 16” both galaxies could be detected quit easily. The “triangle” shape is not really hard to see, the southern end is much thinner than the northern part.
With 27” both galaxies are quite bright. The triangle is easy to see with knots on the south and north end. Both galaxies are not in contact.

"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"

GOOD LUCK AND GREAT VIEWING!

SDSS
228

sketch with 27"
229

[FaintFuzzies]

Thanks Uwe...that's a pretty cool object I'll try and "Give it a go!" next observing session and will "Let you know." :)

[Marko]

First of all: Great set of objects with odd characteristics. Love it. Thanks.

The coordinates are right on the money but I have maybe hit a MegaStar reference data issue or a typo?

I see these objects with RealSky at same coordinates but in order you listed I have them as follows:
PGC 53047 or Anon 1448+07B for the eastern of the pair (triangular one)

PGC 53046 or MCG +1-38-6 or CGCG 48-28 as the western object

[Uwe Glahn]

Thanks Marko,

you are right...the typo devil has stuck again :o I have correct the fault.

[Steve Gottlieb]

The designations can get pretty confusing when you're dealing with multiple systems. For example, CGCG 48-28 really applies to the whole system! The CGCG has only one entry 48-28 with the description "multiple system, collision". So, the way NED deals with this is to call the single western component (brightest) as CGCG 48-28W. The triangular wedge close east is designated CGCG 48-28N and CGCG 48-28S. This seems like a reasonable solution

As far as the Anon designations, they are from the RC2 (Gerard and Antoinette DeVaucouleurs and Harold Corwin) and the situation is also confusing. There are two designations -- Anon 1448+07A and Anon 1448+07B. The listed positions unfortunately are identical. You might assume the "A" component was west and the "B" component east, but the notes section of the catalog claims component A is double. That implies Anon 1448+07A is the eastern object(s), contradicting Megastar. Since Corwin worked for NED, you would think that NED would agree with this, but the eastern component is identified as Anon 1448+07B. Maybe there was a typo in the notes section of the RC2?

In any case, there are two PGC numbers here, 53046 and 53047, so it seems logical to assign the first one to the western galaxy (CGCG 48-28W) and the second one to the eastern pair (CGCG 48-28N and -28S). Hopefully, I haven't confused the issue more! :thinking:

[Jimi Lowrey]

I took a look at this for the first time last Thursday night. I was surprised at how bright the triangle galaxy was. This is a very unique object and I would highly recommend you put it on your to do list! I wounder how Dr. Arp missed this one?

[akarsh]

Hey Uwe

Thanks for sharing this incredible object with all of us! I took a look at it with my 18” on Saturday from Death Valley National Park. The skies were Bortle 2 and there were wind gusts by the time I got to this object, so the seeing was variable but not bad, especially there were moments of good seeing.

I was shocked that I was able to see both components in my 18”. They were extremely faint, but they were definitely visible. One fragment appeared round, and the other fragment appeared fan-shaped, slanted roughly north-south. Every now and then it would appear to fan out, i.e. the southern end appeared larger than the northern end. Both components seem to have a roughly equal surface brightness. The wind momentarily stopped and the view improved (the wind was blowing down the tube). I observed this mostly with a 5mm Pentax and a 6mm Delos eyepiece. It was the last object as I was winding down for the night, and I was really surprised to be able to see so much. Now i really really want to look at it through Jimi’s scope next month.

[akarsh]

I was lucky enough to observe this object with Jimi through his telescope several nights ago. During the night of 23rd April 2022, we had moderate conditions. Here is my sketch:
4671

Clear Skies!