NGC 1407
NGC 1407 is an elliptical galaxy in Eridanus. It is at a distance of 76 million light-years from Earth. It is the brightest galaxy in the NGC 1407 Group, part of the Eridanus Group, with NGC 1407 being its brightest member. NGC 1400, the second-brightest of the group lies 11.8 arcmin away.
| NGC 1407 | |
|---|---|
NGC 1407 by Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Eridanus |
| Right ascension | 03h 40m 11.9s |
| Declination | −18° 34′ 48″ |
| Redshift | 1,779 ± 9 km/s |
| Distance | 76 Mly (23.3 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.7 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | E0 |
| Apparent size (V) | 4′.6 × 4′.3 |
| Other designations | |
| ESO 548- G 067, PGC 13505 | |
NGC 1407 is X-ray luminous, with high hot gas Fe abundance, and with evidence of recurrent radio outbursts. In the central area of the galaxy are present old stars, with mean age 12.0 ± 1.1 Gyrs, that are metal rich and with supersolar abundances of α-elements. Observations indicate that NGC 1407 hasn't recently undergone strong star-formation activity. The galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole with a mass 1.12 ± 0.42 billion solar masses, based on velocity dispersion.
The galaxy was discovered by 6 October 1785 by William Herschel.