Q1039818

galaxy

Key facts

Constellation: Cetus
Right ascension: 02 15 27,64
Declination: +06 ° 00 ′ 09.4 ″
Redshift: +0.005 210 ± 0.000 004
Heliocentric radial velocity: 1562 ± 1 km/s
Distance: 22.0 ± 1.5 , (72 ± 5) × 10 ly)
Type: SAB(rs)c

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Wikidata facts

Image: NGC864 - SDSS DR14.jpg

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Article

NGC 864 is a star-forming intermediate spiral galaxy located in the Cetus constellation. It's also classified as an isolated galaxy on the AMIGA (Analysis of the Interstellar Medium of Isolated Galaxies) catalogue as CIG 96. Its discovery and first description was realized by William Herschel in October 25th, 1785 and the findings made public through his Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, published in 1786.

Due to its diameter, declination and inclination, NGC 864 was selected in 2012 by a group of astronomers working at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory as an object for kinematics study. Besides collecting data to help understand NGC 864's morphology, the objective of the project was to develop a method of flux-calibration for the new GHαFaS system on the William Herschel Telescope.