NGC 1700

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NGC 1700
NGC1700 - SDSS DR14.jpg
NGC 1700 by SDSS
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Eridanus
Right ascension 04h 56m 56.2s [1]
Declination −04° 51′ 57″ [1]
Redshift 0.013006 ± 0.000007 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity 3,899 ± 2 km/s [1]
Distance 117 ± 40 Mly (36.0 ± 12.2 Mpc) [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)11.2 [2]
Characteristics
Type E4 [1]
Apparent size  (V)3.3′ × 2.1′ [1]
Notable featuresPost-merger galaxy
Other designations
MCG -1-13-38, PGC 16386 [1]

NGC 1700 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. It is located at a distance of circa 120 million light years from Earth based on redshift independent methods, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1700 is about 110,000 light years across. [1] Based on redshift alone, the galaxy lies 170 million light years. [1] It was discovered by William Herschel on October 5, 1785. [3]

Contents

Characteristics

NGC 1700 is an elliptical that formed after the merger of at least two galaxies. The galaxy has boxy isophotes and has two broad tidal tails or plumes extending towards the north-west and south-east of the galaxy for about 165 arcseconds, which corresponds to 41,000 parsecs (130,000 ly) at the distance of the galaxy. There is also visible a faint shell system at the central 25 arcseconds of the galaxy. [4] [5] Chaotic dust clouds have been observed within two arcseconds from the centre of the galaxy. They lie at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the major axis of the galaxy. [6] The presence of two symmetrical tails indicates that the galaxy was created of the equal mass spiral galaxies, although the scenario of a spiral galaxy with an elliptical galaxy is also possible. Based on the morphology of the tails, Brown estimated in 2000 the merger took place 3.2 ± 1.5 billion years ago, [4] while Schweizer and Seitzer estimated in 1992 it took place 6 billion years ago. [7]

Chandra image of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1700 showing the hot gas disk NGC 1700- Giant X-Ray Disk Sheds Light On Galactic Merger (2002-n1700 - n1700 xray).jpg
Chandra image of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1700 showing the hot gas disk

Observations of the galaxy by the Chandra X-ray Observatory revealed the presence of an extended disk of hot gas with a diameter of 90,000 light years. Upon discovery it was the largest disk of hot gas known. [8] The disk appears flattened at the outer parts of the galaxy, indicating it is rotating. The temperature of the gas is estimated to be 0.47 ± 0.03 keV. The hot gas disk was accreted during the merger and given the gas cooling rate, the merger took place 3 billion years ago. The rotation implies it continues to carry its initial momentum. [9]

In images by the Hubble Space Telescope were found 146 globular clusters. The globular clusters with an apparent magnitude brighter than 24.5 show a twin peak distribution in color, at V−I=0.85 ± 0.05 and V−I=1.15 ± 0.05, which was also present in images by the Keck Observatory, were 312 globular clusters were detected. [4] The blue population has similar color with the globular clusters in Milky Way and is represantive of old metal-poor clusters, while the red population has higher metallicity, higher than the solar one, and is younger, with an estimated age of 2.5 to 5 billion years by Brown et al. [4] while Trancho et al estimated an age of 1.7 ± 0.8 billion years for the younger clusters. [10]

The stellar population in the core of the galaxy is younger than the rest of the galaxy, having an estimated age of about 6 billion years. The stars in the core are rotating at the opposite direction as the rest of the galaxy, and the core is characterised as kinematically decoupled. It is possible this characteristic is the result of the accretion of a smaller counter-rotating companion galaxy in an event separate from that which created the tidal tails. [11] Statler et al estimated that the merger which resulted in the kinematically decoupled core took place 2–4 billion years ago. [12]

In the centre of the galaxy lies a supermassive black hole whose mass is estimated to be about 425 million M☉ based on the bulge mass-black hole mass relation. [13]

Nearby galaxies

NGC 1700 belongs to galaxy group known as LGG 123. Other members of the group include the galaxies NGC 1729, NGC 1741, IC 2102, and IC 399. [14] NGC 1699 lies at a projected distance of 6.5 arcminutes. [15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 1700. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  2. ↑ "Revised NGC Data for NGC 1700". spider.seds.org. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Seligman, Courtney. "NGC 1700 (= PGC 16386)". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Richard J. N.; Forbes, Duncan A.; Kissler-Patig, Markus; Brodie, Jean P. (September 2000). "Imaging of the protoelliptical NGC 1700 and its globular cluster system". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 317 (2): 406–420. arXiv: astro-ph/0004019 . Bibcode:2000MNRAS.317..406B. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03595.x .
  5. ↑ Forbes, D. A.; Thomson, R. C. (15 February 1992). "Shells and isophotal distortions in elliptical galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 254 (4): 723–728. doi: 10.1093/mnras/254.4.723 .
  6. ↑ Whitmore, Bradley C.; Miller, Bryan W.; Schweizer, Francois; Fall, S. Michael (November 1997). "Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Two Dynamically Young Elliptical Galaxies". The Astronomical Journal. 114: 1797. Bibcode:1997AJ....114.1797W. doi:10.1086/118607.
  7. ↑ Schweizer, Francois; Seitzer, Patrick (September 1992). "Correlations between UBV colors and fine structure in E and S0 galaxies - A first attempt at dating ancient merger events". The Astronomical Journal. 104: 1039. doi:10.1086/116296.
  8. ↑ "NGC 1700: Giant X-Ray Disk Sheds Light On Galactic Merger". chandra.cfa.harvard.edu. 18 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Statler, Thomas S.; McNamara, Brian R. (20 December 2002). "A 15 Kiloparsec X-Ray Disk in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 1700". The Astrophysical Journal. 581 (2): 1032–1038. doi:10.1086/344362.
  10. ↑ Trancho, Gelys; Miller, Bryan W.; Schweizer, François; Burdett, Daniel P.; Palamara, David (14 July 2014). "Intermediate-Age Globular Clusters in Four Galaxy Merger Remnants". The Astrophysical Journal. 790 (2): 122. arXiv: 1408.0750 . doi:10.1088/0004-637X/790/2/122.
  11. ↑ Kleineberg, K.; Sánchez-Blázquez, P.; Vazdekis, A. (10 May 2011). "Evidence of a Distinct Stellar Population in the Counterrotating Core of NGC 1700". The Astrophysical Journal. 732 (2): L33. arXiv: 1103.3797 . doi:10.1088/2041-8205/732/2/L33.
  12. ↑ Statler, Thomas S.; Smecker-Hane, Tammy; Cecil, Gerald N. (April 1996). "The Post-Merger Elliptical NGC 1700: Stellar Kinematic Fields to Four Effective Radii". The Astronomical Journal. 111: 1512. arXiv: astro-ph/9512076 . doi:10.1086/117893.
  13. ↑ Chen, Xian; Liu, F. K.; Magorrian, John (20 March 2008). "Tidal Disruption of Stellar Objects by Hard Supermassive Black Hole Binaries". The Astrophysical Journal. 676 (1): 54–69. doi:10.1086/527412.
  14. ↑ Garcia, A. M. (1 July 1993). "General study of group membership. II. Determination of nearby groups". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 100: 47–90. Bibcode: 1993A&AS..100...47G . ISSN   0365-0138.
  15. ↑ de Vaucouleurs, G.; de Vaucouleurs, A.; Corwin, J. R. (1 January 1976). "Second reference catalogue of bright galaxies". Second Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies. 1976: 0. Bibcode:1976RC2...C......0D.


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