NGC 680 | |
---|---|
Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Aries |
Right ascension | 01h 49m 47.3s [1] |
Declination | +21° 58′ 15″ [1] |
Redshift | 0.009767 ± 0.000017 [1] |
Helio radial velocity | 2,928 ± 5 km/s [1] |
Distance | 123 ± 24 Mly (37.9 ± 7.5 Mpc) [1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.9 [2] |
Characteristics | |
Type | E+ pec [1] |
Apparent size (V) | 1′.9 × 1′.6 [1] |
Other designations | |
UGC 1286, CGCG 482-019, MCG +04-05-015, PGC 6719 [1] |
NGC 680 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 680 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on September 15, 1784. [3]
NGC 680 appears asymmetrical, probably due to interactions with other galaxies. The tidal forces have disturbed the shape of the galaxy and have created arcs, shells and an asymmetric envelope. [4] It also features a patchy dusty feature. [5] The hydrogen gas of the galaxy forms two large diffuse stellar plumes that may be associated with tidal tails. One plume extends to the south-east and the other to the north-west and have projected lengths of 75 and 60 kpc accordingly. However, the galaxy does not have a kinematically decoupled nucleus. [6]
All these characteristics indicate that the current galaxy was created by the merger of two galaxies, maybe two gas rich galaxies, maybe spirals, based on the amount of gas located around the galaxy. The lack of detection of molecular gas indicated that the merger took place 1-2 billion years ago. The merger remnant is characterised as a "fast rotator" that indicates either that the galaxy retained the angular momentum of the original galaxy or that the two galaxies merged in a way that they attained angular momentum. [6]
The mean age of the stellar population of the central 0.3 kpc of NGC 680 is 7.8 billion years, while for the central 2.6 kpc the mean age is 6.5 billion years. Ionised gas has been detected in the nucleus of the galaxy, it is probably created by the gas emitted by stars at the end of their life. An arc of bluer and younger stars has been detected east of the galaxy. [6]
NGC 680 is a member of a galaxy group known as the NGC 691 group. Other members of the group include IC 163, NGC 678, NGC 691, NGC 694, IC 167, and NGC 697. [7] NGC 680 forms a pair with NGC 678, located 5.5 arcminutes to the northwest, and IC 1730 lies 3.7 arcminutes northwards. [8]
Hydrogen emission surrounds both NGC 680 and the nearby NGC 678 and an HI tail has been found to extend towards NGC 691, with the total of this cloud HI mass estimated to by about 5×109 M☉ . This gas was probably stripped by NGC 678 after a close encounter with NGC 680. [9] However, with the use of deep photography, a stellar bridge between the two galaxies has not been detected, nor between NGC 680 and IC 1730. [6]
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC (New General Catalogue) 598. With the D25 isophotal diameter of 18.74 kiloparsecs (61,100 light-years), the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way.
A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formation rate of the Milky Way galaxy is approximately 3 M☉/yr, while starburst galaxies can experience star formation rates of 100 M☉/yr or more. In a starburst galaxy, the rate of star formation is so large that the galaxy will consume all of its gas reservoir, from which the stars are forming, on a timescale much shorter than the age of the galaxy. As such, the starburst nature of a galaxy is a phase, and one that typically occupies a brief period of a galaxy's evolution. The majority of starburst galaxies are in the midst of a merger or close encounter with another galaxy. Starburst galaxies include M82, NGC 4038/NGC 4039, and IC 10.
Messier 37 is the brightest and richest open cluster in the constellation Auriga. It was discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. M37 was missed by French astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil when he rediscovered M36 and M38 in 1749. French astronomer Charles Messier independently rediscovered M37 in September 1764 but all three of these clusters were recorded by Hodierna. It is classified as Trumpler type I,1,r or I,2,r.
Messier 108 is a barred spiral galaxy about 28 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 or 1782. From the Earth, this galaxy is seen almost edge-on.
IC 1101 is a class S0 supergiant (cD) lenticular galaxy at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster. It has an isophotal diameter at about 123.65 to 169.61 kiloparsecs. It possesses a diffuse core which is the largest known core of any galaxy to date, and also hosts a supermassive black hole that is one of the largest black holes known. The galaxy is located at 354.0 megaparsecs from Earth. The galaxy was discovered on 19 June 1790, by the British astronomer William Herschel.
NGC 4889 is an E4 supergiant elliptical galaxy. It was discovered in 1785 by the British astronomer Frederick William Herschel I, who catalogued it as a bright, nebulous patch. The brightest galaxy within the northern Coma Cluster, it is located at a median distance of 94 million parsecs from Earth. At the core of the galaxy is a supermassive black hole that heats the intracluster medium through the action of friction from infalling gases and dust. The gamma ray bursts from the galaxy extend out to several million light years of the cluster.
NGC 922 is a peculiar galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax, located at a distance of 142 Mly from the Milky Way. It is one of the nearest known collisional galaxies. This object was described by the Herschels as "considerably faint, pretty large, round, gradually pretty much brighter middle." The general form is described by the morphological classification of SB(s)cd pec, which indicates a peculiar (pec) barred spiral galaxy (SB) with no inner ring system around the bar (s) and loosely-wound spiral arms (cd).
NGC 7727 is a peculiar galaxy in the constellation Aquarius. It harbors two galactic nuclei, each containing a supermassive black hole, separated 1,600 light years apart.
NGC 6221 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ara. In de Vaucouleurs' galaxy morphological classification scheme, it is classified as SB(s)bc and was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 3 May 1835. NGC 6221 is located at about 69 million light years from Earth.
NGC 1792 is a spiral galaxy located in the southern Columba constellation. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on October 4, 1826. This galaxy is located at a distance of about 36.4 million light-years and is receding from the Milky Way with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,208 km/s. NGC 1792 is a member of the NGC 1808 cluster of galaxies.
NGC 4111 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is located at a distance of circa 50 million light-years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4111 is about 55,000 light-years across. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788. NGC 4111 possesses both thin and thick discs.
NGC 2865 is an isolated elliptical galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. The core region of the galaxy shows a kinematically distinct component showing indications of a recent accretion or merger event that led to a burst of star formation around the nucleus. Observational constraints require this to have occurred within the last 100–400 million years, with the merger most likely being an Sb or Sc-class spiral galaxy.
NGC 3367 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It is located at a distance of about 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3367 is about 85,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 19, 1784.
NGC 7130 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. It is located at a distance of about 220 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7130 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on September 25, 1834, and discovered independently by Lewis Swift on September 17, 1897. The location of the galaxy given in the New General Catalogue was off by 30 arcminutes in declination from the location of the galaxy.
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 7674 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pegasus. It is located at a distance of circa 350 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7674 is about 125,000 light years across. It was discovered by John Herschel on August 16, 1830.
NGC 691 is an unbarred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 691 is about 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 13, 1786.
NGC 765 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 220 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 765 is about 195,000 light years across. It was discovered by Albert Marth on October 8, 1864. The galaxy has an extensive hydrogen (HI) disk with low surface brightness, whose diameter is estimated to be 240 kpc.
NGC 694 is a spiral galaxy approximately 136 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Aries. It was discovered by German astronomer Heinrich Louis d'Arrest on December 2, 1861 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen.
NGC 5728 is an active barred spiral galaxy located 146 million light years away in the southern constellation of Libra. It was discovered on May 7, 1787 by William Herschel. The designation comes from the New General Catalogue of J. L. E. Dreyer, published in 1888. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 13.40 and spans an angle of 3.4 arcminutes. The galaxy shows a red shift of 0.00935 and has a heliocentric radial velocity of 2,803 km/s. It has an estimated mass of 72 billion times the mass of the Sun and stretches around 30 kpc across.