galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...
in the constellation of
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
. It was discovered on 11 June 1784 by
William Herschel
Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
. It was described as "faint, pretty large, irregularly round" by
John Louis Emil Dreyer
John Louis Emil Dreyer (13 February 1852 – 14 September 1926), also Johan Ludvig Emil Dreyer, was a Danish astronomer who spent most of his career working in Ireland. He spent the last decade of his life in Oxford, England.
Life
Dreyer ...
, the compiler of the
New General Catalogue
The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxy, galaxies, star cluste ...
.
The two components of NGC 6052 are designated NGC 6052A and NGC 6052B, respectively. The two, attracted by each other's gravity, have collided and are interacting with each other. NGC 6052 is currently in a late stage of merging, where the shape of the two galaxies is not distinctly defined.
SN 1982aa, a powerful radio
supernova
A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...
, was detected in NGC 6052.
Gallery
NGC6052 - HST - Potw1909a.jpg, NGC 6052 observed by Hubble with its WFPC2 camera.
See also
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Hercules (Chinese astronomy) According to traditional Chinese uranography, the modern constellation Hercules is located in Three Enclosures (三垣, ''Sān Yuán'')
The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 武仙座 (''wǔ xiān zuò''), which means "the im ...
*
List of largest galaxies
This is a list of largest galaxies known, sorted by order of increasing major axis diameters. The unit of measurement used is the light-year (approximately 9.46 kilometers).
Overview
Galaxies are vast collections of stars, planets, nebulae a ...
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List of nearest galaxies
This is a list of known galaxies within 3.8 Parsec, megaparsecs (12.4 million light-years) of the Solar System, in ascending order of heliocentric distance, or the distance to the Sun.
This encompasses about 50 major Local Group galaxies, and some ...
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List of NGC objects (6001–7000)
This is a list of NGC objects 6001–7000 from the New General Catalogue (NGC). The astronomical catalogue is composed mainly of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Other objects in the catalogue can be found in the other subpages of the list of ...
209
Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 209 for this y ...