Journal: What is HCG50a?

HCG50a is the brightest component of Hickson Compact Group 50 (HCG50), a small group of 5 galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major. They are extremely faint, and are visible visually only in large telescopes, say > 25" in aperture.

There are 100 groups in the Hickson Compact Group catalog, compiled by Paul Hickson to investigate interacting galaxies.

More information on this interesting catalog can be found here .