Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Aries (Ari)  ·  Contains:  HD12805  ·  NGC 810
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NGC 810, Gary Imm
NGC 810, Gary Imm

NGC 810

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 810, Gary Imm
NGC 810, Gary Imm

NGC 810

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Description

This object is an unusual elliptical (E2) galaxy located 360 million light years away in the constellation of Aries at a declination of +13 degrees.  It is a magnitude 14 galaxy which spans 1.1 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a Milky Way sized diameter of 120,000 light years.

It appears that this is a recent/ongoing merger object, for 2 reasons.  First, a second small bright core is seen just to the left of the NGC 810 core.  Second, this galaxy is one of the few which shows prolate rotation – it is rotating around its long axis.  This is seen in the data but more obviously in the striking dust lane, which is the only one I have seen running perpendicular to its long axis.   With time, scientists believe that the prolate rotation will dissipate.

Surprisingly, 3 other galaxies in this image also appear disturbed – UGC 1593 to the left, UGC 1584 at top, and PCG 212910 to the right.

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