IC 2431 - Colliding Galaxies
IC 2431 is a group of colliding galaxies in the constellation of Cancer, some 660 million light-years away from Earth. This group was first discovered
in 1906 by Stéphane Javelle with a 76cm telescope. With an apparent brightness of 13.7mag and a size of 0.5'x0.4' (smaller than Jupiter), the object is
only suitable for larger telescopes with an aperture of 30-40cm or more.
It is thought to be a total of 3 or 4 galaxies merging together. Some of them show signs of starburst activity, which is associated with an increased star
formation rate.
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IC 2431 was visible in my 20" f/3 Dobsonian as a very small, diffuse patch of light even at a magnification of 120x, which appeared elongated but
still completely structureless. Only at 380x I was able to identify three brighter spots, of which the southeastern one at 7 o'clock was the most difficult.
