Fornax is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Fornax is one of the 88 modern constellations.
The Hubble sequence is a morphological classification scheme for galaxies published by Edwin Hubble in 1926. It is often colloquially known as the Hubble tuning-fork diagram because the shape in which it is traditionally represented resembles a tuning fork. It was invented by John Henry Reynolds and Sir James Jeans
An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless image. They are one of the four main classes of galaxy described by Edwin Hubble in his Hubble sequence and 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae, along with spiral and lenticular galaxies. Elliptical (E) galaxies are, together with lenticular galaxies (S0) with their large-scale disks, and ES galaxies with their intermediate scale disks, a subset of the "early-type" galaxy population.
A lenticular galaxy is a type of galaxy intermediate between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes. It contains a large-scale disc but does not have large-scale spiral arms. Lenticular galaxies are disc galaxies that have used up or lost most of their interstellar matter and therefore have very little ongoing star formation. They may, however, retain significant dust in their disks. As a result, they consist mainly of aging stars. Despite the morphological differences, lenticular and elliptical galaxies share common properties like spectral features and scaling relations. Both can be considered early-type galaxies that are passively evolving, at least in the local part of the Universe. Connecting the E galaxies with the S0 galaxies are the ES galaxies with intermediate-scale discs.
Centaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance. NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target. It is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes.
The Sombrero Galaxy is a peculiar galaxy of unclear classification in the constellation borders of Virgo and Corvus, being about 9.55 megaparsecs from the Milky Way galaxy. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. It has a diameter of approximately 15 kiloparsecs, three-tenths the size of the Milky Way.
NGC 5866 is a relatively bright lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco. NGC 5866 was most likely discovered by Pierre Méchain or Charles Messier in 1781, and independently found by William Herschel in 1788. Measured orbital velocities of its globular cluster system imply that dark matter makes up only 34±45% of the mass within 5 effective radii, a notable paucity.
NGC 891 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6, 1784. The galaxy is a member of the NGC 1023 group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster. It has an H II nucleus.
The Fornax Cluster is a cluster of galaxies lying at a distance of 19 megaparsecs (62 million light-years). It has an estimated mass of (7±2)×1013 solar masses, making it the second richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light-years, after the considerably larger Virgo Cluster. It may be associated with the nearby Eridanus Group. It lies primarily in the constellation Fornax, with its southern boundaries partially crossing into the constellation of Eridanus, and covers an area of sky about 6° across or about 28 sq degrees.
NGC 1316 is a lenticular galaxy about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. It is a radio galaxy and at 1400 MHz is the fourth-brightest radio source in the sky.
NGC 1427A is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Fornax. Its distance modulus has been estimated using the globular cluster luminosity function to be 31.01 ± 0.21 which is about 52 Mly. It is the brightest dwarf irregular member of the Fornax cluster and is in the foreground of the cluster's central galaxy NGC 1399.
IC 335 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy about 60 million light years away, in the constellation Fornax. It is part of the Fornax Cluster.
NGC 1380 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Fornax. It is located at a distance of circa 60 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1380 is about 85,000 light years across. It was discovered by James Dunlop on September 2, 1826. It is a member of the Fornax Cluster.
NGC 1381 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Fornax. It is located at a distance of about 60 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1381 is about 55,000 light years across. It is a member of the Fornax Cluster. NGC 1381 appears edge-on and features a thin disk with high surface brightness and a boxy bulge. Both the box-shaped bulge and the kinematics of the central area of the galaxy suggest that NGC 1381 has a bar.
NGC 1386 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. It is located at a distance of circa 53 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 1386 is about 50,000 light years across. It is a Seyfert galaxy, the only one in Fornax Cluster.
NGC 1326 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, 63 million light-years away. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on 29 November 1837. It is a member of the Fornax Cluster, an NGC 1316 subgroup and has a diameter of 70 000 light-years.
NGC 1387 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, in the Fornax Cluster. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 25, 1835.
NGC 1375 is a barred lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax discovered by John Herschel on November 29, 1837. It is believed to be a member of the Fornax Cluster.
NGC 1460 is a barred lenticular galaxy in the constellation Eridanus. It was discovered by John Herschel on November 28, 1837. It is moving away from the Milky Way at 1341 km/s.
NGC 1406 is almost edge-on barred spiral galaxy in constellation Fornax. It was discovered by John Herschel on 18 November 1835.
