| Description | Another reasonably bright Arp Peculiar Galaxy (or galaxy pair), with a large spiral galaxy (IC 983) interacting with (absorbing?) a dwarf. Essentially the spiral arms of 983 are directly connected to 982. Also, note the large, right-hand circle is a Milky Way star, not another galaxy. Surprising a galaxy as large as 983 didn't get discovered in time to be published in the NGC catalog. But this is likely because the surface brightness is a bit low, and it wasn't until photographic plates came into use that it was discovered. All NGC objects were discovered visually. The IC catalog, which was an extension of NGC was published in 1888 and 1905. IC objects were discovered both visually and with photo-plates. Anything discovered later was almost certainly discovered using photography. |
