Astronomy:NGC 1140

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Short description: Irregular galaxy in Eridanus
NGC 1140
A galactic nursery.jpg
NGC 1140, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationEridanus
Right ascension 02h 54m 33.542s[1]
Declination−10° 01′ 42.60″[1]
Redshift0.005007[2]
Helio radial velocity1150 km/s[2]
Distance59.47 ± 4.18 Mly (18.233 ± 1.283 Mpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)12.25[2]
Apparent magnitude (B)12.84[3]
Absolute magnitude (V)−19.05[2]
Characteristics
TypeIBm pec[2]
Apparent size (V)1.7 × 0.9[2]
Notable featuresWolf–Rayet galaxy
Other designations
Markarian 1063, VV 482, MCG-02-08-019, PGC 10966[3]

NGC 1140 is an irregular galaxy in the southern constellation of Eridanus. Estimates made using the Tully–Fisher method put the galaxy at about 59 million light years (18 megaparsecs).[2] It was discovered on 22 November 1786 by William Herschel, and was described as "pretty bright, small, round, stellar" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.[4]

NGC 1140 is a starburst galaxy, meaning it is forming stars at a very fast rate. In fact, while it is only a tenth as wide as the Milky Way, it is producing stars at a rate of 0.65 M/yr,[5] about the same as the Milky Way. The image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows bright blue and red regions of star formation, similar to NGC 1569.[6] The starburst is estimated to have begun about 5 million years ago.[5] Its low metallicity (the ratio of hydrogen and helium to other elements) makes NGC 1140 similar to primordial galaxies.[6]

Wolf–Rayet stars, a class of blue, massive, and luminous stars, are present in this galaxy; in fact, NGC 1140 has so many of them that their spectra also appear in the galaxy's spectrum.[5] These types of galaxies are known Wolf–Rayet galaxies, and are fairly rare because Wolf–Rayet stars are a short stage in the lives of very massive stars.[7]

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Cutri, Roc M.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Beichman, Charles A.; Carpenter, John M.; Chester, Thomas; Cambresy, Laurent; Evans, Tracey E. et al. (2003). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: 2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources (Cutri+ 2003)". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues 2246: II/246. Bibcode2003yCat.2246....0C. http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=II/246. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "NED results for object NGC 1140". National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=NGC+1140&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "NGC 1140". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=NGC+1140. 
  4. Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 1100 - 1149". http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc11.htm#1140. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Karthick, M. Chrisphin; López-Sánchez, Ángel R.; Sahu, D. K.; Sanwal, B. B.; Bisht, Shuchi (2014). "Photometric and spectroscopic studies of star-forming regions within Wolf-Rayet galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 439 (1): 157–178. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2301. Bibcode2014MNRAS.439..157K. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 "A galactic nursery | ESA/Hubble". 2015. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1529a/. 
  7. "Intense and short-lived | ESA/Hubble". 2015. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1526a/. 

External links