NGC 1277

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NGC 1277
NGC 1277 viewed by Hubble.jpg
NGC 1277 as seen by the HST
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Perseus
Right ascension 03h 19m 51.5s [1]
Declination 41° 34′ 25″ [1]
Redshift 0.016898 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity 5066 km/s [1]
Galactocentric velocity5168 km/s [1]
Distance 73  Mpc (240  Mly) [2]
Group or cluster Perseus Cluster [3] [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)14.66 [1]
Characteristics
Type S0^+, pec [1]
Size~52,700  ly (16.16  kpc) (estimated) [1]
Apparent size  (V)1.0 x 0.4 [1]
Other designations
PGC 12434, LGG 088
References: [1]

NGC 1277 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Perseus. It is a member of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies and is located approximately 73 Mpc (megaparsecs) [2] or 220 million light-years from the Milky Way. It has an apparent magnitude of about 14.7. It was discovered on December 4, 1875 by Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse.

Contents

NGC 1277 has been called a "relic of the early universe" due to its stars being formed during a 100 million year interval about 12 billion years ago. Stars were formed at a rate of 1000 times that of the Milky Way galaxy's formation rate in a short burst of time. After this process of stellar formation ran its course, NGC 1277 was left populated with metal-rich stars that are about 7 billion years older than the Sun. [2] It is still uncertain whether or not NGC 1277 is a "relic galaxy"; current studies are still researching the possibility. [4] [5] However, observations with Hubble Space Telescope indicate that NGC 1277 lacks metal-poor globular clusters, suggesting that it has accreted little mass over its lifetime and supporting the relic galaxy hypothesis. [6]

Dark matter

NGC 1277 has a very unusual rotation curve that suggests that it contains very little dark matter. [7]

Supermassive black hole

Hubble Space Telescope image of the galactic group in the Perseus Cluster that NGC 1277 is a member of. It is the bright galaxy just to the left of the center of the image. NGC1277 NGC1278 - HST - Potw1812a.tiff
Hubble Space Telescope image of the galactic group in the Perseus Cluster that NGC 1277 is a member of. It is the bright galaxy just to the left of the center of the image.

Initial observations made using the Hobby–Eberly Telescope at Texas's McDonald Observatory suggested the presence of a black hole with a mass of about 1.7×1010 M☉ (17 billion solar masses), equivalent to 14% of the total stellar mass of the galaxy, due to the motions of the stars near the center of the galaxy. [8] This resulted in the initial claim that the black hole in NGC 1277 is one of the largest known in relation to the mass of its host galaxy.

A follow-up study, [9] based on the same data and published the following year, reached a very different conclusion. The black hole that was initially suggested at 1.7×1010 M☉ was not as massive as once thought. The black hole was estimated to be between 2 and 5 billion solar masses. This is less than a third of the previously estimated mass, a significant decrease. Models with no black hole at all were also found to provide reasonably good fits to the data, including the central region.

Subsequent investigations employed adaptive optics to acquire a better estimate of the mass of the black hole. [4] [5] One group made observations using the Gemini Near Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer to better determine the mass of the black hole at the center of NGC 1277. [4] The group used similar models to that of van den Bosch, but with higher spatial resolution. After using stellar dynamics and luminosity models to estimate the mass of the black hole, they came to a mass of 4.9×109 M☉, similar to the estimate from the follow-up study done by Emsellem, [9] which estimated a mass between 2–5 billion solar masses. More recently, a new group [5] made observations using the larger Keck Telescope with superior spatial resolution, and calculated that a black hole with mass 1.2×109 M☉ fits best. Moreover, this value is an order of magnitude smaller than first reported by van den Bosch, [8] and was noted to probably be an upper limit due to the edge-on rotating disk in NGC 1277.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6388</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius

NGC 6388 is a globular cluster of stars located in the southern constellation of Scorpius. The cluster was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 13, 1826 using a 20 cm (9 in) reflector telescope. It was later determined to be a globular cluster by English astronomer John Herschel, who was able to resolve it into individual stars. NGC 6388 is located at a distance of approximately 35,600 light-years (10.90 kpc) from the Sun. Due to its apparent visual magnitude of +6.8, binoculars or a small telescope are required to view it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4203</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4203 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a lenticular galaxy in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered on March 20, 1787 by English astronomer William Herschel, and is situated 5.5° to the northwest of the 4th magnitude star Gamma Comae Berenices and can be viewed with a small telescope. The morphological classification of NGC 4203 is SAB0−, indicating that it has a lenticular form with tightly wound spiral arms and a weak bar structure at the nucleus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3862</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo

NGC 3862 is an elliptical galaxy located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 27, 1785, NGC 3862 is an outlying member of the Leo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7016</span> Galaxy in the constellation Capricornus

NGC 7016 is an elliptical galaxy located about 480 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Capricornus. NGC 7016's calculated velocity is 11,046 km/s. The galaxy has an estimated diameter of about 160 thousand light years and was discovered by American astronomer Francis Preserved Leavenworth on July 8, 1885. It is also host to a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 1.4 × 109M☉.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1270</span> Galaxy in the constellation Perseus

NGC 1270 is an elliptical galaxy located about 250 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. It was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on February 14, 1863. NGC 1270 is a member of the Perseus Cluster and has an estimated age of about 11 billion years. However, Greene et al. puts the age of NGC 1270 at about 15.0 ± 0.50 Gy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1271</span> Galaxy in the constellation Perseus

NGC 1271 is a compact elliptical or lenticular galaxy located about 250 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer Guillaume Bigourdan on November 14, 1884. NGC 1271 is a member of the Perseus Cluster and has a nuclear dust disk in its center. It also has an edge-on, intermediate-scale disk and has a central bulge. Like NGC 1277, NGC 1271 is a candidate "relic galaxy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1281</span> Galaxy in the constellation Perseus

NGC 1281 is a compact elliptical galaxy located about 200 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. NGC 1281 was discovered by astronomer John Dreyer on December 12, 1876. It is a member of the Perseus Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 708</span> Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

NGC 708 is an elliptical galaxy located 240 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda and was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on September 21, 1786. It is classified as a cD galaxy and is the brightest member of Abell 262. NGC 708 is a weak FR I radio galaxy and is also classified as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5982</span> Galaxy in the constellation Draco

NGC 5982 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Draco. It is located at a distance of circa 130 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5982 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on May 25, 1788.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6951</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cepheus

NGC 6951 is a barred spiral galaxy located in constellation Cepheus. It is located at a distance of about 75 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 6951 is about 100,000 light-years across. It was discovered by Jérôme Eugène Coggia in 1877 and independently by Lewis Swift in 1878.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3585</span> Galaxy in the constellation Hydra

NGC 3585 is an elliptical or a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Hydra. It is located at a distance of circa 60 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3585 is about 80,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 9, 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2974</span> Galaxy in the constellation Sextans

NGC 2974 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Sextans. It is located at a distance of circa 90 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 2974 is about 90,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on January 6, 1785. NGC 2974 is located in the sky about 2 and a half degrees south-south east of Iota Hydrae and more than 6 degrees northeast of Alphard. A 10th magnitude star lies next to the galaxy, thus making it a challenging object at low magnifications. NGC 2974 is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4294</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4294 is a barred spiral galaxy with flocculent spiral arms located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4298</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4298 is a flocculent spiral galaxy located about 53 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 1277. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Trujillo, Ignacio; Ferré-Mateu, Anna; Balcells, Marc; Vazdekis, Alexandre; Sánchez-Blázquez, Patricia (1 January 2014). "NGC 1277: A Massive Compact Relic Galaxy in the Nearby Universe". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 780 (2): L20. arXiv: 1310.6367 . Bibcode:2014ApJ...780L..20T. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/780/2/L20. ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   53866417.
  3. ↑ Brunzendorf, J.; Meusinger, H. (October 1, 1999). "The galaxy cluster Abell 426 (Perseus). A catalogue of 660 galaxy positions, isophotal magnitudes and morphological types". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 139 (1): 141–161. Bibcode:1999A&AS..139..141B. doi: 10.1051/aas:1999111 . ISSN   0365-0138.
  4. 1 2 3 Walsh, Jonelle L.; van den Bosch, Remco C. E.; Gebhardt, Karl; Yildirim, Akin; Richstone, Douglas O.; Gültekin, Kayhan; Husemann, Bernd (1 January 2016). "A 5 x 109 Msun Black Hole in NGC 1277 from Adaptive Optics Spectroscopy". The Astrophysical Journal. 817 (1): 2. arXiv: 1511.04455 . Bibcode:2016ApJ...817....2W. doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/817/1/2 . ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   118487689.
  5. 1 2 3 Graham, Alister W.; Durré, Mark; Savorgnan, Giulia A. D.; Medling, Anne M.; Batcheldor, Dan; Scott, Nicholas; Watson, Beverly; Marconi, Alessandro (1 March 2016). "A Normal Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 1277". The Astrophysical Journal. 819 (1): 43. arXiv: 1601.05151 . Bibcode:2016ApJ...819...43G. doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/819/1/43 . ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   36974319.
  6. ↑ Beasley, Michael A.; Trujillo, Ignacio; Leaman, Ryan; Montes, Mireia (2018-03-12). "A single population of red globular clusters around the massive compact galaxy NGC 1277". Nature. 555 (7697): 483–486. arXiv: 1803.04893 . Bibcode:2018Natur.555..483B. doi:10.1038/nature25756. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   29531319. S2CID   4440393.
  7. ↑ Burlaka, Olexandr (20 July 2023). "Mystery of a galaxy without dark matter". universemagazine.com. The Universe. Space. Tech. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 van den Bosch, Remco C. E.; et al. (29 Nov 2012). "An over-massive black hole in the compact lenticular galaxy NGC 1277". Nature . 491 (7426): 729–731. arXiv: 1211.6429 . Bibcode:2012Natur.491..729V. doi:10.1038/nature11592. PMID   23192149. S2CID   205231230.
  9. 1 2 Emsellem, Eric (Aug 2013). "Is the black hole in NGC 1277 really overmassive?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 433 (3): 1862–1870. arXiv: 1305.3630 . Bibcode:2013MNRAS.433.1862E. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stt840 .
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