NGC 80 is classfied as a giant lenticular galaxy. Its circumnuclear ring measured 5″t 7″ in radius, is 7 billion years with an older stellar population of 10 billion years. The galaxy also has a metal-rich chemically distinct nucleus.[6]
According to astronomers who studied the budges of seven members in the NGC 80 group in 2008 using the BTA-6 telescope, they discovered the stars have an estimated age of between 10 to 15 billion years old. However, IC 1548 (another member of the NGC 80 group) was exceptional since it showed signs of recent star formations, with a budge and nucleus age calculated to be 3 and 1.5 billion years respectively. Moreover, IC 1548 also has a thin-like gas structure indicating its interaction caused it to become a lenticular galaxy.[7]
The following year, the same telescope was used, this time to observe 13 disk galaxies in the group. Of the 13 galaxies, 9 were lenticulars. Astronomers also found there is one case of ongoing star formation in UCM 0018+2216 and that all galaxies studied exhibited a two-layered stellar disk brighter than M B ∼ -18.[9]
References
^ abSkrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708. ISSN0004-6256. S2CID18913331.