Q695542
Sign in to savespiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus
Key facts
- Constellation
- Cetus
- Right ascension
- 02 41 45.2292
- Declination
- +00 ° 26 ′ 35.988 ″
- Redshift
- 0.003 322 ± 0.000 002
- Heliocentric radial velocity
- 996 ± 1 km/s
- Distance
- 52 Mly (16 Mpc )
- Type
- SBb: II-III: spindle
- Size
- ~114,400 ly (35.06 kpc ) (estimated)
- Apparent size v
- 7.6′ × 2.7′
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
NGC 1055 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. The galaxy has a prominent nuclear bulge crossed by a wide, knotty, dark lane of dust and gas. The spiral arm structure appears to be elevated above the galaxy's plane and obscures the upper half of the bulge. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on December 18, 1783, from his home in Slough, England.
NGC 1055, bottom, and companion galaxy M77, top, the two largest galaxies of a small galaxy group NGC 1055 is a binary system together with the bright spiral galaxy M77 (NGC 1068). These two are the largest galaxies of a small galaxy group that also includes NGC 1073, and five other small irregular galaxies.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q695542” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.