NGC 1097

NGC 1097
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Fornax
Right ascension	02h 46m 19.0s[1]
Declination	−30° 16′ 30″[1]
Redshift	1271 ± 3 km/s[1]
Distance	45 million ly [2]
Type	(R'_1:)SB(r'l)bSy1[1]
Apparent dimensions (V)	9′.3 × 6′.3[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	10.2[1]
Other designations
ESO 416- G 20, PGC 10488,[1] Arp 77[1] Caldwell 67

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy about 45 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 October 1790. Three supernovae (SN 1992bd, SN 1999eu, and SN 2003B) have been observed in NGC 1097.

NGC 1097 is also a Seyfert galaxy. Deep photographs revealed four narrow optical jets that appear to emanate from the nucleus. These have been interpreted as manifestations of the (currently weak) active nucleus. Subsequent analysis of the brightest jet's radio-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution were able to rule out synchrotron and thermal free-free emission. The optical jets are in fact composed of stars. The failure to detect atomic hydrogen gas in the jets (under the assumption that they were an example of tidal tails) using deep 21 cm HI imaging with the Very Large Array radio telescope and numerical simulations led to the current interpretation that the jets are actually the shattered remains of a cannibalized dwarf galaxy.

Like most massive galaxies, NGC 1097 has a supermassive black hole at its center. Around the central black hole is a ring of star-forming regions with a network of gas and dust that spirals from the ring to the black hole.

NGC 1097 has two satellite galaxies. Dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 1097A is the larger of the two. It is a peculiar elliptical galaxy that orbits 42,000 light-years from the center of NGC 1097. Dwarf galaxy NGC 1097B (5 x 10⁶ solar masses), the outermost one, was discovered by its HI emission, and appears to be a typical dwarf irregular. Little else is known about it.

Gallery

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  Star forming ring in NGC 1097. HST. 0.9′ view

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  Colour-composite image of the central 5,500 light-years wide region of the spiral galaxy NGC 1097, obtained with the NACO adaptive optics on the VLT. Credit: ESO

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  NGC 1097 seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope

See also

• Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
• Spiral Galaxy NGC 1232

References

External links

• VLT observations – NGC 1097's "dog-leg" tidal stream
• weblore.com – NGC 1097: The Galaxy with the Longest known Optical Jets
• Antilhue-Chile – NGC 1097 in Fornax
• ESO – Very Large Telescope observations of NGC 1097
• Astronomy Picture of the Day – In the Arms of NGC 1097 (2006-12-01)
• The dance of stars and space, 29 December 2012, Thomas Anderson, TG Daily
• NGC 1097 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images

Coordinates: 02^h 46^m 19.0^s, −30° 16′ 30″