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Barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Fornax From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 986 is a barred spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax, located about 76 million light-years away.[4][5] It was discovered on August 5, 1826, by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, who described it as a "faint nebula, of an irregular round figure". The galaxy has an angular size of 3′.8 × 1′.9 with a visual magnitude of 10.9. It belongs to the Fornax Cluster of galaxies.[6] This galaxy has a nearby companion, NGC 986A, at an angular separation of 17′, corresponding to a projected separation of 110 kpc. The two appear unconnected.[5]
| NGC 986 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Right ascension | 02h 33m 34.349s[2] |
| Declination | −39° 02′ 42.21″[2] |
| Redshift | 0.006606[3] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 1,942±10 km/s[4] |
| Distance | 76 Mly (23.2 Mpc)[4][5] 56 million ly[1] |
| Group or cluster | Fornax Cluster[6] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.9[6] |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 11.74[3] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | (R′1)SB(rs)b[4] |
| Apparent size (V) | 3′.8 × 1′.9[6] |
| Other designations | |
| IRAS 02315-3915, 2MASX J02333434-3902422, NGC 986, LEDA 9747, MCG -07-06-015 | |
The morphological class of NGC 986 is (R′1)SB(rs)b,[4] indicating this is a barred spiral (SB) with an outer pseudo-ring (R′1), an incomplete inner ring (rs), and moderately wound spiral arms (b). The galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 37° to the line of sight from the Earth. The resulting ellipsoidal profile has its major axis aligned along a position angle of 127°.[4]
The nucleus of NGC 986 is undergoing intense star formation[5] and there is an H II region at the core. The large central bar extends ~14 kpc and is rich in dense gas.[4] The galaxy contains two large, extended and slightly warped arms that begin at each end of the central bar, forming an S-shape. There may be a tidally-disrupted dwarf galaxy at the end of its northern arm.[5]
One supernova has been observed in NGC 986: SN 2018lei (type Ic, mag. 16.8).[7]
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