DescriptionImages

Object name: NGC5485

Designation(s): NGC5485, NGC5484, NGC5473, NGC5486,

NGC 5485 is a strange galaxy. It shows a nice SA0 shape but then has a totally unexpected red dust band at nearly right angles to the major axis of the galaxy. Some claim it is a polar ring galaxy. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-ref?bibcode=2017A%26A...606A..62T.

It is located less than a degree from M101. Though over 4 times more distant so therefore not a member of the M101 group as some websites say. This field contains 4 NGC galaxies that appear to be part of a local group. Only NGC 5486 has a redshift that doesn't fit but the non-redshift distance estimates for all four are a good match. I suspect NGC 5486 just has a different redshift because of its orbit around the center of mass of this group. Quite a few other galaxies in the field also lie at a distance that makes them likely lesser members of the group.

Inside the halo of NGC 5485 to the southeast, there's something that to me appears to be a near edge on galaxy seen right through the stars of NGC 5485. Neither NED nor SIMBAD show anything at its position. I expected NED to at least know about it but apparently not.

Just southwest of NGC 5485 is a fuzzy blob of a galaxy. NED lists it as the star SDSS J140706.41+545838.9 but gives a spectroscopic redshift that puts it about 120 million light-years distant. Thus it appears to really be a galaxy and may be a dwarf member of the group. Why NED insists on listing it as a star I don't know. SIMBAD doesn't list it at all.

NGC 5473 was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789 as was NGC 5484, NGC 5485 and NGC 5486. He was having a very productive night it would seem. NGC 5473 made the original Herschel observing program. My entry for that on May 17, 1985 with my 10" f/5 on a fair night hurt by high humidity at up to 120x reads: "Small, slightly oval galaxy with a star-like nucleus. Near a chain of a few field stars." Odd I didn't mention seeing NGC 5485. It may be a more difficult visual object as it only made it into the Herschel 2 observing program. I found only a very few amateur images of this galaxy. The only amateur images I found of these galaxies was a few wide field shots of M101 that happened to pick them up. I was happy to see the imagers knew they were in the image. How many took the field and didn't realize what the small galaxies were? Without searching hundreds of wide field M101 images.

The rest of the field is rather typical of my images.

14" LX200R @ f/10, L=4x10' RGB=2x10', STL-11000XM, Paramount ME

Rick



http://www.mantrapskies.com/image-archive/NGC/NGC5485-NGC5484-NGC5473-NGC5486/NGC5485L4X10RGB2X10.JPG
http://www.mantrapskies.com/image-archive/NGC/NGC5485-NGC5484-NGC5473-NGC5486/NGC5485L4X10RGB2X10CROP125.JPG
http://www.mantrapskies.com/image-archive/NGC/NGC5485-NGC5484-NGC5473-NGC5486/NGC5485L4X10RGB2X10ID.JPG

Related Designation(s):

2MASS J14044322+5453334, 2MASS J14064823+5501474, 2MASS J14071134+5500060, 2MASS J14072491+5506109, 2MASX J14044324+5453334, 2MASX J14064813+5501473, 2MASX J14071131+5500054, 2MASX J14072502+5506105, 2MASXi J1404432+545333, 2MASXi J1406481+550147, 2MASXi J1407113+550006, 2MASXi J1407252+550611, ASK 301865.0, ASK 301882.0, ASK 301891.0, CALIFA 708, CGCG 1403.0+5508, CGCG 1405.1+5516, CGCG 1405.5+5515, CGCG 1405.7+5520, CGCG 272-022, CGCG 272-029, CGCG 272-030, CGCG 272-031, GALEXASC J140443.26+545333.4 , GALEXMSC J140443.31+545333.7 , GALEXMSC J140648.24+550147.3 , GALEXMSC J140725.01+550610.1 , HDCE 0847 NED003, HDCE 0847 NED005, IRAS 14056+5520, IRAS F14056+5520, LCSB S2024O, LDCE 1029 NED003, LDCE 1029 NED005, LGG 373:[G93] 004, LGG 373:[G93] 005, LGG 373:[G93] 007, MAPS-NGP O_134_0087933, MAPS-NGP O_134_0088404, MCG +09-23-031, MCG +09-23-037, MCG +09-23-038, NGC 5473, NGC 5484, NGC 5485, NGC 5486, NGC5473, NGC5484, NGC5485, NGC5486, NPM1G +55.0192, NSA 053139, NSA 053145, NSA 164491, NSA 164563, PGC 050191, PGC 050338, PGC 050369, PGC 050383, SDSS J140443.22+545333.4, SDSS J140648.22+550147.5, SDSS J140648.22+550147.7, SDSS J140711.33+550006.2, SDSS J140711.34+550005.9, SDSS J140711.34+550006.0, SDSS J140711.34+550006.1, SDSS J140711.35+550006.1, SDSS J140724.96+550610.8, SDSS J140724.96+550611.0, SDSS J140724.97+550611.1, SSTSL2 J140443.28+545333.7, UGC 09011, UGC 09033, UGC 09036, UZC J140443.3+545332, UZC J140711.3+550006, UZC J140724.9+550611, WBL 491-001, WBL 491-002, WBL 491-003, [BEC2010] HRS 309, [M98j] 218 NED03, [M98j] 218 NED05, [VWT2014] J140721.7+550556,