mhmabry
M77 and NGC 1055
Object information:
Right-hand galaxy Designations: M77, NGC 1065, PGC 10266, Squid Galaxy
Left-hand galaxy Designations: NGC1055
Constellation: Cetus (the Whale)
Distance:
M77 : 45 Million Light Years
NGC 1055 : 52 Million Light Years
Apparent Magnitude:
M77 : 9.6
NGC 1055 : 11.4
Description:
M77 is a barred spiral galaxy, with quite a set of spiral arms. It was thought to be a star cluster when discovered about 1780 by Mechain and added to Messier's catalog. Later reclassified as a spiral galaxy with tightly wound arms. Finally, infrared images of the inner part of the galaxy reveal a prominent bar not seen in visual light, and for this reason it is now considered a barred spiral.
M77 is a prime example of a Seyfert galaxy, or a galaxy with an intensely active center that is obscured by gas and dust in visible light.
One cool and very recent fact: In November 2022, the IceCube collaboration announced the detection of a neutrino source emitted by the active galactic nucleus of Messier 77. This is only the 4th known source of neutrinos, including our Sun.
NGC 1055 is an edge-on galaxy. It has a prominent nuclear bulge crossed by a wide, knotty, dark lane of dust and gas. It is slightly larger than our Milky Way galaxy, 100,000 light years across.
NGC 1055 has a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bluge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
NGC 1055 and M77 form a binary galactic system. They are the largest galaxies of a small galactic cluster that includes 6 other galaxies. I read on Wikipedia that they are approximately 442,000 light years apart, but this must only the distance that they appear apart in an image, since NGC 1055 is about 7 Million light years farther from Earth than M77.
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Astrophoto Info:
Location: Home backyard, Richmond, VA, USA
Date: 11-21-2022, 11-22-2022
Wx Conditions: Clear and cold (lows about 22F), average seeing
Equipment:
Scope: Celestron C-8, 0.7x focal reducer
Camera: ASI294MM
Mount: iOptron CEM-70
Filters: Astonomik Deep-Sky RGB, Astronomik L-2 Luminance
Software: Astro Pixel Processer, Pixinsight
Imaging Settings:
Binning: 2x2
Gain: 102
Temp: -20C
focal length: 1315mm
subs:
L 86 x 120s
R 15 x 300s
G 13 x 300s
B 10 x 300s
Total integration time: 6 hr
M77 and NGC 1055
Object information:
Right-hand galaxy Designations: M77, NGC 1065, PGC 10266, Squid Galaxy
Left-hand galaxy Designations: NGC1055
Constellation: Cetus (the Whale)
Distance:
M77 : 45 Million Light Years
NGC 1055 : 52 Million Light Years
Apparent Magnitude:
M77 : 9.6
NGC 1055 : 11.4
Description:
M77 is a barred spiral galaxy, with quite a set of spiral arms. It was thought to be a star cluster when discovered about 1780 by Mechain and added to Messier's catalog. Later reclassified as a spiral galaxy with tightly wound arms. Finally, infrared images of the inner part of the galaxy reveal a prominent bar not seen in visual light, and for this reason it is now considered a barred spiral.
M77 is a prime example of a Seyfert galaxy, or a galaxy with an intensely active center that is obscured by gas and dust in visible light.
One cool and very recent fact: In November 2022, the IceCube collaboration announced the detection of a neutrino source emitted by the active galactic nucleus of Messier 77. This is only the 4th known source of neutrinos, including our Sun.
NGC 1055 is an edge-on galaxy. It has a prominent nuclear bulge crossed by a wide, knotty, dark lane of dust and gas. It is slightly larger than our Milky Way galaxy, 100,000 light years across.
NGC 1055 has a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bluge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
NGC 1055 and M77 form a binary galactic system. They are the largest galaxies of a small galactic cluster that includes 6 other galaxies. I read on Wikipedia that they are approximately 442,000 light years apart, but this must only the distance that they appear apart in an image, since NGC 1055 is about 7 Million light years farther from Earth than M77.
=============
=============
Astrophoto Info:
Location: Home backyard, Richmond, VA, USA
Date: 11-21-2022, 11-22-2022
Wx Conditions: Clear and cold (lows about 22F), average seeing
Equipment:
Scope: Celestron C-8, 0.7x focal reducer
Camera: ASI294MM
Mount: iOptron CEM-70
Filters: Astonomik Deep-Sky RGB, Astronomik L-2 Luminance
Software: Astro Pixel Processer, Pixinsight
Imaging Settings:
Binning: 2x2
Gain: 102
Temp: -20C
focal length: 1315mm
subs:
L 86 x 120s
R 15 x 300s
G 13 x 300s
B 10 x 300s
Total integration time: 6 hr