NGC 1277
NGC 1277 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Perseus. It is a member of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies and is located approximately 73 Mpc (megaparsecs) or 220 million light-years from the Milky Way. It has an apparent magnitude of about 14.7. It was discovered on December 4, 1875 by Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse.
| NGC 1277 | |
|---|---|
NGC 1277 as seen by the HST | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Right ascension | 03h 19m 51.5s |
| Declination | 41° 34′ 25″ |
| Redshift | 0.016898 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 5066 km/s |
| Galactocentric velocity | 5168 km/s |
| Distance | 73 Mpc (240 Mly) |
| Group or cluster | Perseus Cluster |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.66 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | S0^+, pec |
| Size | ~52,700 ly (16.16 kpc) (estimated) |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.0 x 0.4 |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 12434, LGG 088 | |
References: | |
NGC 1277 has been called a "relic of the early universe" due to its stars being formed during a 100 million year interval about 12 billion years ago. Stars were formed at a rate of 1000 times that of the Milky Way galaxy's formation rate in a short burst of time. After this process of stellar formation ran its course, NGC 1277 was left populated with metal-rich stars that are about 7 billion years older than the Sun. It is still uncertain whether or not NGC 1277 is a "relic galaxy"; current studies are still researching the possibility. However, observations with Hubble Space Telescope indicate that NGC 1277 lacks metal-poor globular clusters, suggesting that it has accreted little mass over its lifetime and supporting the relic galaxy hypothesis.