These 2 small merging galaxies are located 350 million light years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices at a declination of +29 degrees. This location is at the furthest northern end of the massive Coma Galaxy Cluster complex of over 1000 galaxies.
NGC 4922 is a magnitude 14.7 object whose main bright region spans 1.2 arc-minutes in our apparent view. This corresponds to a Milky Way like diameter of 120,000 light years.
In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting mid-merger DSOs. The two bright bridge-connected cores are visible and distinct, slightly separated. A drop shadow loop is seen up and the the right, while a broad star plume extends downward. A 2009 paper (
TIDAL DWARF GALAXIES AROUND A POST-MERGER GALAXY, NGC 4922) identifies 3 TDGs (Title Dwarf Galaxies) that are seen as tiny brighter spots in the tail. Merger plumes are believed to be the origin of many dwarf galaxies.
I have classified this as a M3 merger, which is a merger where 2 close cores are visible. My collection of M3 merger galaxies is seen
here.
Odd that this peculiar galaxy was not included by Dr. Arp in his Arp collection.
Many small galaxies are visible in the background.
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