NGC 1187 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the Eridanus constellation, approximately 60 million light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel in 1784. It has an apparent size of 5.370′ x 3.630 arc min and an apparent magnitude of 11.4.
Here are some key characteristics and features of NGC 1187:
- Barred Spiral Structure: NGC 1187 is classified as a barred spiral galaxy, meaning it has a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. This bar extends across the galaxy's nucleus, with spiral arms spiralling outward.
- Spiral Arms: The spiral arms of NGC 1187 are prominent and well-defined, winding outward from the central bar. These arms are regions of active star formation where young, hot, and massive stars are born. They appear as bright, luminous regions within the galaxy.
- Active Star Formation: Like many spiral galaxies, NGC 1187 exhibits regions of active star formation within its spiral arms. These regions are characterised by young, hot, and luminous stars and vast clouds of interstellar gas and dust. The intense radiation and stellar winds from these young stars shape the surrounding gas clouds and trigger further star formation.
- Dust Lanes and Nebulae: NGC 1187 displays intricate patterns of dark dust lanes and bright nebulae within its spiral arms. The dust lanes are composed of interstellar dust particles that absorb and scatter light, creating dark streaks against the brighter background of stars. Nebulae are clouds of gas and dust illuminated by nearby stars, appearing as glowing patches of light.
- Central Bulge: At the centre of NGC 1187 lies a bright, spherical region known as the central bulge. The bulge is densely packed with stars and likely harbours a supermassive black hole at its core, although this has not been directly observed.
- Galactic Interactions: Over its cosmic history, NGC 1187 may have experienced gravitational interactions with other nearby galaxies. Such interactions can distort the shape of galaxies, trigger bursts of star formation, and leave behind tidal tails of stars and gas. However, there is no significant evidence of recent galactic collisions or interactions in the case of NGC 1187.
Above NGC 1187 you can see another galaxy, PGC11469. There is no known interaction between NGC1187 and PGC11469, which appears to have a title stream. This interesting galaxy has an angular size of 1.258 0.537 arcmin's. I am interested in how far away objects are. I used this reference to get an estimate of the distance:
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objname=+PGC11469&hconst=67.8&omegam=0.308&omegav=0.692&wmap=4&corr_z=1It reports a value of a Hubble Distance of approximately 18.89. Now, that is far.
Instruments:Telescope: 10" Ritchey-Chrétien RCOS
Camera: SBIG STL-11000 Mono
Mount: Astro-Physics AP-900
Focal Length: 2310.00 mm
Pixel size: 9.00 um
Resolution: 0.82 arcsec/pix
Exposure Details:Lum 33 X 600
Red 18 X 600
Green 18 X 600
Blue 22 X 600
Ha 28 X 1200
Total Exposure: 24.5 Hours
Thanks for looking
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