NGC 5981, NGC 5982, NGC 5985 (Draco Trio)

In 2012, I imaged the famous Draco Trio during a holiday in Banon, using my CCD equipment under the dark skies of Haute-Provence. The field contains the three prominent galaxies NGC 5981, NGC 5982, and NGC 5985, which together form one of the most attractive and well-known galaxy groupings in the northern sky. The excellent observing conditions of southern France allowed the subtle structures of all three galaxies to be captured in a single wide-field image.

Located in the constellation Draco, the trio lies at a distance of approximately 100 million light-years. Although the three galaxies appear close together on the sky and belong to the same galaxy group, each represents a different stage of galactic evolution and morphology, making the field particularly interesting from both a scientific and aesthetic perspective.

NGC 5981 is a beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy, characterized by its remarkably thin disk and prominent central dust lane. Viewed almost perfectly from the side, it provides an excellent opportunity to study the vertical distribution of stars, gas, and dust within a spiral galaxy. The dark dust lane sharply divides the bright stellar disk, creating one of the most striking visual features of the trio.

In contrast, NGC 5982 is a giant elliptical galaxy dominated by an old stellar population. Its smooth, nearly featureless appearance reflects a long evolutionary history during which most of its gas was consumed or lost, leaving little ongoing star formation. At its center resides a supermassive black hole, typical of large elliptical galaxies.

The third member, NGC 5985, is a magnificent face-on spiral galaxy displaying graceful, well-defined spiral arms interwoven with dark dust lanes and numerous H II regions, where new stars continue to form. Its nearly face-on orientation offers an excellent view of the internal structure of a spiral galaxy and contrasts beautifully with the edge-on perspective of NGC 5981.

Together, the three galaxies provide an outstanding comparison of the principal galaxy morphologies found in the nearby universe: an edge-on spiral, a massive elliptical, and a face-on spiral. Their differing orientations and structures make the Draco Trio a favorite target for astrophotographers and a valuable object for illustrating the diversity of galactic evolution.

The final image captured under the dark skies of Haute-Provence beautifully showcases this remarkable galaxy group, revealing not only the unique characteristics of each member but also numerous faint background galaxies that add depth and scale to the scene. The Draco Trio remains one of the finest galaxy fields visible in the northern hemisphere and an enduring highlight of my observing trip to southern France.

The data calibration and registration was done with DeepSkyStacker, while the final processing was performed with PixInsight. The result was as follows:

The field is also populated by a remarkable number of quasars, whose immense distances add another layer of scientific interest to the image. During the annotation process, I identified numerous quasars scattered across the field. To keep the image uncluttered, however, I chose to label only the quasar with the highest measured redshift:

SDSS J154038.26+593721.7 with z=3.99

The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Date: 2012
• Location: Banon, France
• Telescope: TS 10″ Newton
• Focal length [mm]: 1140
• Focal ratio: 4.5
• Mount: Skywatcher NEQ6
• Camera: Moravian 8300FW
• Filter:LRGB
• Exposure time [min]: 160:60:60:60
• Resolution: 0.97″/px