| NGC 1439 | |
|---|---|
 Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 1439 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Eridanus |
| Right ascension | 03h 44.498m [1] |
| Declination | −21° 55′ [1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 1668 ± 8 km/s |
| Distance | 23.5 Mpc (76.6 Mly) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.4 [1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | E1 [1] |
| Apparent size (V) | 2.4′ × 2.2′ [1] |
| Other designations | |
| MCG -04-09-056, PGC 13738 [2] | |
NGC 1439 is an elliptical galaxy located in constellation of Eridanus. Situated about 77 million light years away, it is a member of the Eridanus Cluster of galaxies, a cluster of about 200 galaxies. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 December 1784.
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NGC 1439 has a Hubble classification of E1, which indicates it is an elliptical galaxy with no extensions. It is moving away from the Milky Way at a rate of 1,668 km/s. Its size on the night sky is 2.4' x 2.2' which is proportional to its real size of 54 000 ly.
NGC 1439 is an early-type galaxy. Despite their name, early-type galaxies are much older than spiral galaxies, and mostly comprise old, red-colored stars. Very little star formation occurs in these galaxies; the lack of star formation in elliptical galaxies appears to start at the center and then slowly propagates outward. [3]
Most of the galaxies like NGC 1439 are dust poor. However, NGC 1439 contains more dust than usual. [4]
