NGC 2
Galaxy in the constellation Pegasus
NGC 2 is an intermediate spiral galaxy with the morphological type of Sab, located in the constellation of Pegasus. NGC 2 was discovered by Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse on 20 August 1873.
01Observational History
NGC 2 was first observed by Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse on 24 August 1873, and was described as "very faint, small, south of GC 1."
02Properties
NGC 2 is located about 345 million light-years from the Solar System, with a magnitude of +14.2, while the distance to NGC 1 is 210 million light-years. Although visually close in the sky, NGC 1 and NGC 2 are at very different distances; were they stars, they would be referred to as an "optical double" as seen from Earth.
AGC 102559, a spiral galaxy 60,000 light-years in diameter, is the closest galaxy to NGC 2, only 1.8 million light-years from it. Although it is quite close to NGC 1, the latter is closer and unrelated to NGC 2.
NGC 2 is a spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 60 thousand light-years, smaller than the size of the Milky Way.
03Listing in astronomical catalogues
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “NGC 2”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- NGC 2 by the DESI Legacy Surveys.jpg by DESI Legacy Surveys / Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute), CC BY 4.0
- NGC 1 and NGC 2 from the DESI Legacy Survey.jpg by DESI Legacy Surveys / Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute), CC BY 4.0
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