Arp 299 (NGC 3690, VV 118 and others) is the train wreck at the center of the image. The galaxy on the east (left) is singularly designated as UGC 6472, PGC 35321 and vv 118a among others. The one to the west (right) is UGC 6471, vv 118b and others). Some sources also include IC 694 (vv 118c and others), the small galaxy above and to the right. There’s a faint but huge tidal tail that trails up and to the left (east). J.E. Hibbard’s paper (https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/9903266.pdf) determines that it is 583,000 light-years long. Part of Arp’s Double Galaxies class, these all appear to be located approximately 143.5 million light-years away in Ursa Major.
Arp 296 consists of MCG+10-17-005 (PGC 35345 and others) above and to the left of Arp 299 and PGC 2580146 below it. These also appear to connected by tidal tails although this doesn’t appear to be a certainty. It is possible that these are not even interacting and our view makes it look that way. These are much further away – upwards of 800 million light-years – than Arp 299.
Luminance – 52x600s – 520 minutes – binned 1x1
RGB – 28:19:22x300s – 140:95:110 minutes each – binned 2x2
865 minutes total exposure – 14 hours 25 minutes
Imaged over six nights in January, February and March, 2019 from Dark Sky New Mexico at Rancho Hidalgo (Animas, New Mexico) with a SBIG STF-8300M on an Astro-Tech AT12RCT at f/8 2432mm.
LRGB - https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcrowson/51072196272/sizes/l/
Luminance inverted - https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcrowson/51002915280/sizes/l/