NGC 1232

NGC 1232 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 60 million light-years away[2] in the constellation Eridanus. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 20 October 1784.[3]

NGC 1232
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationEridanus
Right ascension03h 09m 45.5s[1]
Declination−20° 34′ 46″[1]
Redshift0.005347[1]
Helio radial velocity1603 ± 1 km/s[1]
Distance61 ± 8.5 Mly
(18.7 ± 2.6 Mpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.9[1]
Characteristics
TypeSAB(rs)c[1]
Apparent size (V)7′.4 × 6′.5[1]
Notable featureslarge satellite
Other designations
PGC 11819,[1] Arp 41[1]
Spiral galaxy NGC 1232 with NGC 1232A at lower left. Image based on three exposures in ultra-violet, blue and red light respectively.

It is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, in spiral arms rotating about the center. Open clusters containing bright blue stars are sprinkled along these spiral arms, with dark lanes of dense interstellar dust between. Less visible are dimmer stars and interstellar gas, comprising such a high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy. Not visible is matter of unknown form called dark matter, needed to explain the motions of the visible material in the outer galaxy. The galaxy is approximately 200,000 light-years across, in between the sizes of the Andromeda Galaxy and our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

NGC 1232 and its satellite are part of the Eridanus cluster of galaxies, along with NGC 1300.

NGC 1232A

NGC 1232A is a satellite galaxy of NGC 1232.[4] It is thought to be the cause of unusual bending in the spiral arms. In 1988, NGC 1232A was estimated to be 68 million light-years away[5] while NGC 1232 was estimated to be 65 million light-years away.[2]

See also

References
  1. "NED results for object NGC 1232". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  2. "Distance Results for NGC 1232". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  3. Seligman, Courtney. "NGC Objects: NGC 1200 - 1249". cseligman.com. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. "NED results for object NGC 1232A". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  5. "Distance Results for NGC 1232A". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2010-06-22.


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