NGC 1439

NGC 1439
Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 1439
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Eridanus
Right ascension	03^h 44.498^m [1]
Declination	−21° 55′[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	1668 ± 8 km/s
Distance	23.5 Mpc (76.6 Mly)
Apparent magnitude (V)	11.4[1]
Characteristics
Type	E1[1]
Apparent size (V)	2.4′ × 2.2′[1]
Other designations
MCG -04-09-056, PGC 13738[2]

NGC 1439 is an elliptical galaxy located in constellation of Eridanus. Situated about 77 million light years away, it is a member of the Eridanus cluster of galaxies, a cluster of about 200 galaxies. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 December 1784.

NGC 1439 has a Hubble classification of E1, which indicates it is an elliptical galaxy with no extensions. It is moving away from the Milky Way at a rate of 1,668 km/s. Its size on the night sky is 2.4' x 2.2' which is proportional to its real size of 54 000 ly.

NGC 1439 is an early-type galaxy. Despite their name, early-type galaxies are much older than spiral galaxies, and mostly comprise old, red-colored stars. Very little star formation occurs in these galaxies; the lack of star formation in elliptical galaxies appears to start at the center and then slowly propagates outward.^[3]

Most of the galaxies like NGC 1439 are dust poor. However, NGC 1439 contains more dust than usual.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  DSS image of NGC 1439
• 
  NGC 1439 by Pan-STARRS
• 
  NGC 1439 (HST)

References

1. Dunlop, Storm (2005). Atlas of the Night Sky. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-717223-8.
2. "NGC 1439". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
3. Howell, Elizabeth (2015). "Colossal Ancient Galaxies Die from the Inside Out". space.com. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
4. Tomita, Akihiko; Aoki, Kentaro; Watanabe, Masaru; Takata, Tadafumi; Ichikawa, Shin-Ichi (2000). "The Central Gas Systems of Early-Type Galaxies Traced by Dust Features, Based on the Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Archival Images". The Astronomical Journal. 120 (1): 123–130. arXiv:astro-ph/0003431. Bibcode:2000AJ....120..123T. doi:10.1086/301440. S2CID 9684945.

External links

• Media related to NGC 1439 at Wikimedia Commons