NGC 178

NGC 178
Ilustracja
(c) ESA/Hubble, CC BY 4.0

NGC 178 (HST)
OdkrywcaOrmond Stone
Data odkrycia3 listopada 1885
Dane obserwacyjne (J2000)
GwiazdozbiórWieloryb
Typspiralna (Sb/P)
Rektascensja00h 39m 08,4s
Deklinacja–14° 10′ 20″
Przesunięcie ku czerwieni0,004863[1]
Jasność obserwowana12,6m
Rozmiary kątowe2,1' × 0,9'
Alternatywne oznaczenia
IC 39, PGC 2349, MCG -2-2-78, 8ZW 34, IRAS00366-1426

NGC 178 (również IC 39 lub PGC 2349) – galaktyka spiralna (Sb/P), znajdująca się w gwiazdozbiorze Wieloryba. Odkrył ją Ormond Stone 3 listopada 1885 roku[2].

Zobacz też

Przypisy

  1. NGC 178 w bazie SIMBAD (ang.)
  2. Courtney Seligman: NGC 178 (ang.). W: Celestial Atlas [on-line]. [dostęp 2016-05-05].

Linki zewnętrzne

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A double discovery NGC 178 IC 39.jpg
(c) ESA/Hubble, CC BY 4.0
NGC 178 may be small, but it packs quite a punch. Measuring around 40 000 light-years across, its diameter is less than half that of the Milky Way, and it is accordingly classified as a dwarf galaxy. Despite its diminutive size, NGC 178 is busy forming new stars. On average, the galaxy forms stars totalling around half the mass of the Sun per year — enough to label it a starburst galaxy.

The galaxy’s discovery is an interesting, and somewhat confusing, story. It was originally discovered by American astronomer Ormond Stone in 1885 and dubbed NGC 178, but its position in the sky was recorded incorrectly — by accident the value for the galaxy’s right ascension (which can be thought of as the celestial equivalent of terrestrial longitude) was off by a considerable amount.

In the years that followed NGC 178 was spotted again, this time by French astronomer Stéphane Javelle. As no catalogued object occupied that position in the sky, Javelle believed he had discovered a new galaxy and entered it into the expanded Index Catalogue under the name IC 39. Later, American astronomer Herbert Howe also observed the object and corrected Stone’s initial mistake. Many years later, astronomers finally noticed that NGC 178 and IC 39 were actually the same object!

This image of NGC 178 comprises data gathered by the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.