Group of Galaxies Hickson 10
History
On 13 September 1784 William Herschel discovered a «very faint nebula» using his 18.7" telescope. He cataloged it as III 171 [NGC 536] and just remarked: «stellar». [463] On 17 November 1827 his son John found a nebula which he cataloged as h 118 [NGC 529] and noted: «pretty bright, very small, suddenly brighter in the middle. The preceding of two.» [466] The remaining two of this group (NGC 531 and NGC 542) were discovered on 16 October 1855 by R. J. Mitchell, assistant of 3rd Earl of Rosse. [196]
The British-Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson presented in 1982 his systematic search for groups of galaxies on the photo plates of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) to the public. In order to be classified by him as a galaxy group, at least four members should be identifiable, which had to be reasonably compact and isolated from the rest. The catalog contains 100 groups of galaxies. [140] The group number 10 has 4 members. In the 1993 special issue of his «Atlas of Compact Groups of Galaxies» he noted: «This is a rather loose group of nearby bright galaxies. The spiral galaxies (a [NGC 536], b [NGC 529] and c [NGC 531]) have extended spiral arms typical of interacting galaxies.» [166]
Physical Properties
Distances of the group members range from 52 to 70 Mpc. [145]
| Name | RA | Dec | Type | bMag | vMag | Dim | Dreyer Description | Identification, Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 529 | 01 25 40.2 | +34 42 47 | Gx (E-S0) | 13.1 | 12.1 | 2.4 × 2.1 | pB, vS, sbM, p of 2 | UGC 995, MCG 6-4-19, CGCG 521-23, HCG 10B |
| NGC 531 | 01 26 18.8 | +34 45 15 | Gx (SB0-a) | 14.9 | 13.8 | 1.8 × 0.5 | F, S, R | UGC 1012, MCG 6-4-20, CGCG 521-24, HCG 10C |
| NGC 536 | 01 26 21.6 | +34 42 12 | Gx (SBb) | 13.2 | 12.4 | 3.3 × 1.2 | pB, pL, gbM, f of 2 | UGC 1013, MCG 6-4-21, CGCG 521-25, HCG 10A |
| NGC 542 | 01 26 30.9 | +34 40 34 | Gx (Sb) | 15.6 | 14.8 | 1 × 0.2 | eF, diffic | MCG 6-4-22, CGCG 521-26, HCG 10D |
Finder Chart
The Hickson 10 compact group of galaxies can be found in the constellation Andromeda. The best time for observation is in the months from June to February.
Visual Observation
Pending ...