Hickson 40 in Hydra

HICKSON	NAME	SIZE (M)	MAG (V)	SB
40a	MCG-01-25-009	1.3X1.0	12.8	13.1
40b	MCG-01-25-010	1.1X0.7	14.0	13.6
40c	MCG-01-25-008	1.1X0.3	14.9	13.6
40d	MCG-01-25-012	0.9X0.4	14.2	12.9
40e	MCG-01-25-011	0.7X0.3	17.3

Hickson 40A is the brightest and first of four in the compact group Hickson 40 = Arp 321 = VV 116 group. Very faint, very small, round. Also in the group are Hick 40D = M-01-25-012 55" NE, Hick 40B = M-01-25-010 1.1' SSE and Hick 40C = M-01-25-008 40" S. Hickson 40C is an elongated threshold object glimpsed intermittently just N of Hickson 40B. At first, this pair was not resolved and I was not sure if I was viewing a single compact or elongated gx, but was graduallyconvinced that two distinct galaxies were visible. Located just 40" S of the center of Hickson 40A and 30" NW of Hickson 40B.Hickson 40B appears very faint, extremely small, round. At times, appears elongated or a fainter companion system is attached at the N side (this is Hick 40C). Hickson 40D appears very faint, small, elongated 3:2 E-W. This is the second easiest (of 4) in an interesting tight group. A mag 14 star lies2.3' NW. - Steve Gottlieb