NGC 1559

NGC 1559 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Reticulum. It was discovered on 6 November 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop.^[2]

NGC 1559
NGC 1559 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000.0 epoch)
Constellation	Reticulum
Right ascension	04h 17m 35.7506s[1]
Declination	−62° 47′ 01.316″[1]
Redshift	1304 ± 4 km/s[1]
Distance	48.73 ± 2.18 Mly (14.942 ± 0.669 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	11[1]
Characteristics
Type	SB(s)cd[1]
Size	~75,600 ly (23.17 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)	3.5′ × 2.0′[1]
Other designations
ESO 084- G 010, IRAS 04170-6253, 2MASX J04173578-6247012, PGC 14814[1]

NGC 1559 is a Seyfert galaxy, i.e. it has a quasar-like nuclei with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, the host galaxy is clearly detectable. Although it was originally thought to be a member of the Dorado Group,^[3] subsequent observations have shown that it is in fact not a member of any galaxy group or cluster and does not have any nearby companions.^[4][5] NGC 1559 has massive spiral arms and strong star formation.^[4] It contains a small bar which is oriented nearly east-west and spans 40″.^[4] Its bar and disc are the source of very strong radio emissions.^[4]

Supernovae

Supernova SN 2005df is visible as the bright star just above the galaxy (imaged by ESO's 8.2m VLT)

Four supernovae have been observed in NGC 1559:

• SN 1984J (type II, mag. 13.5) was discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Robert Evans^[6] on 27 July 1984.^[7][8]
• SN 1986L (type II, mag. 13.5) was discovered by Robert Evans on 7 October 1986.^[9][10]
• SN 2005df (Type Ia, mag 13.8) was discovered by Robert Evans on 4 August 2005.^[11][12] It got as bright as magnitude 12.3, making it the brightest supernova observed in 2005.^[13]
• SN 2009ib (type II-P, mag. 14.7) was discovered by the CHASE project (CHilean Automatic Supernova sEarch) on 6 August 2009.^[14][15]

See also

• List of NGC objects (1001–2000)