Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

HCG 2

HCG 2 is one of the compact groups of galaxies in the Hickson Compact Group of galaxies. It is located in Pisces east of HD 2679 and is 192 million light-years away. HCG 2 is one of a hundred such groups identified by a systematic search of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey red prints in 1982 by Paul Hickson. Hickson Compact Group 2 has a velocity dispersion of 55 km/s and the crossing time of HCG 2 is 0.087. HCG 2 is classified as a Gas Rich Group, which studies show that UGC 00312 has many bright star forming regions, whereas MCG +01-02-018 is a compact and luminous galaxy.

Last revised
Jul 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
334 w
Citations
10
Source
Wikipedia ↗
HCG 2
HCG 2 by Legacy Surveys DR10
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
ConstellationPisces
Right ascension00h 31m 30.0s
Declination+08° 25′ 52.0″
Number of galaxies4
Velocity dispersion55 km/s
Redshift0.014479
Distance192 Mly (58.9 Mpc)
Other designations
HCG 002; WBL 012; PPS2 069; HIPASS J0031+08

HCG 2 is one of the compact groups of galaxies in the Hickson Compact Group of galaxies. It is located in Pisces east of HD 2679 and is 192 million light-years away. HCG 2 is one of a hundred such groups identified by a systematic search of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey red prints in 1982 by Paul Hickson.1 Hickson Compact Group 2 has a velocity dispersion of 55 km/s and the crossing time of HCG 2 is 0.087.2 HCG 2 is classified as a Gas Rich Group, which studies show that UGC 00312 has many bright star forming regions, whereas MCG +01-02-018 (Mrk 5523) is a compact and luminous galaxy4.

Members

HCG 2 consists of four member galaxies.1 Their names and basic properties are listed below.5

Galaxy Type Right ascension Declination Diameter (Arcsec") Estimated Distance
UGC 003126 SB? 00h 31m 23.9041s +08° 28′ 01.287″ 102.00 193.3 Mly (59.27 Mpc)
MCG +01-02-0187 S? 00h 31m 18.8591s +08° 28′ 30.229″ 66.00 192.5 Mly (59.02 Mpc)
UGC 003148 S? 00h 31m 29.3520s +08° 28′ 02.232″ 72.00 188.6 Mly (57.83 Mpc)
UGC 003159 SBc 00h 31m 38.3062s +08° 28′ 26.423″ 60.00 1,009.8 Mly (309.60 Mpc)
References

References

  1. Hickson, P. (1982). "Systematic properties of compact groups of galaxies". Astrophysical Journal. 255: 382. Bibcode:1982ApJ...255..382H. doi:10.1086/159838.
  2. Hickson, P. (1992). "Dynamical Properties of Compact Groups of Galaxies". Astrophysical Journal. 399: 353. Bibcode:1992ApJ...399..353H. doi:10.1086/171932.
  3. "NED results for Mrk 552". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  4. Johnson, K. E. (2007). "The Infrared Properties of Hickson Compact Groups". The Astronomical Journal. 134: 1522. arXiv:0706.4461. Bibcode:2007AJ....134.1522J. doi:10.1086/520921.
  5. "NED results for HCG 2". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  6. "NED results for UGC 312". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  7. "NED results for MCG +01-02-018". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  8. "NED results for UGC 314". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
  9. "NED results for UGC 315". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2026-05-16.