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EntityQ1040493· pop 31· linked from 952 articles

galaxy

Key facts

Constellation
Cetus
Right ascension
02 30 42.8350
Declination
−02 ° 56 ′ 20.126 ″
Heliocentric radial velocity
5741 ± 2 km/s
Distance
264.8 ± 18.6 Mly (81.20 ± 5.69 Mpc )
Type
SB(rs)c?
Size
~161,200 ly (49.43 kpc ) (estimated)
Apparent size v
2.9′ × 0.9′

via Wikipedia infobox

~1 min read

Encyclopedic overview

NGC 958 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Cetus. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 5505 ± 17 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 81.20 ± 5.69 Mpc (~265 million light-years). However, 19 non-redshift measurements give a closer distance of 58.93 ± 12.91 Mpc (~192 million light-years). The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 20 September 1784.

NGC 958 is a Seyfert II Galaxy, i.e. it has a quasar-like nuclei with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, the host galaxy is clearly detectable. The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) lists NGC 958 as a luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “NGC 958” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.