| NGC 1277 | |
|---|---|
 NGC 1277 as seen by the HST | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Right ascension | 03h 19m 51.5s[1] |
| Declination | 41° 34′ 25″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.016898[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 5066 km/s[1] |
| Galactocentric velocity | 5168 km/s[1] |
| Distance | 73 Mpc (240 Mly)[2] |
| Group or cluster | Perseus Cluster[3][2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.66[1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | S0^+, pec[1] |
| Size | ~52,700 ly (16.16 kpc) (estimated)[1] |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.0 x 0.4[1] |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 12434, LGG 088 | |
References: [1] | |
NGC 1277 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Perseus. It is a member of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies and is located approximately 73 Mpc (megaparsecs)[2] or 220 million light-years from the Milky Way. It has an apparent magnitude of about 14.7. It was discovered on December 4, 1875 by Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse.
NGC 1277 has been called a "relic of the early universe" due to its stars being formed during a 100 million year interval about 12 billion years ago. Stars were formed at a rate of 1000 times that of the Milky Way galaxy's formation rate in a short burst of time. After this process of stellar formation ran its course, NGC 1277 was left populated with metal-rich stars that are about 7 billion years older than the Sun.[2] It is still uncertain whether or not NGC 1277 is a "relic galaxy"; current studies are still researching the possibility.[4][5] However, observations with Hubble Space Telescope indicate that NGC 1277 lacks metal-poor globular clusters, suggesting that it has accreted little mass over its lifetime and supporting the relic galaxy hypothesis.[6]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 1277. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Trujillo, Ignacio; Ferré-Mateu, Anna; Balcells, Marc; Vazdekis, Alexandre; Sánchez-Blázquez, Patricia (1 January 2014). "NGC 1277: A Massive Compact Relic Galaxy in the Nearby Universe". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 780 (2): L20. arXiv:1310.6367. Bibcode:2014ApJ...780L..20T. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/780/2/L20. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 53866417.
- ^ Brunzendorf, J.; Meusinger, H. (October 1, 1999). "The galaxy cluster Abell 426 (Perseus). A catalogue of 660 galaxy positions, isophotal magnitudes and morphological types". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 139 (1): 141–161. Bibcode:1999A&AS..139..141B. doi:10.1051/aas:1999111. ISSN 0365-0138.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
walshwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
grahamwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Beasley, Michael A.; Trujillo, Ignacio; Leaman, Ryan; Montes, Mireia (2018-03-12). "A single population of red globular clusters around the massive compact galaxy NGC 1277". Nature. 555 (7697): 483–486. arXiv:1803.04893. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..483B. doi:10.1038/nature25756. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 29531319. S2CID 4440393.