NGC 855
Galaxy in the constellation Triangulum
NGC 855 is a star-forming dwarf elliptical galaxy located in the Triangulum constellation. The discovery and a first description (as H 26 613) was realized by William Herschel on 26 October 1786 and the findings made public through his Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, published the same year.
NGC 855's relative velocity to the cosmic microwave background is 343 ± 18 km/s (343 ± 18) km/s, corresponding to a Hubble distance of 5.06 ± 0.44 Mpc (~16.5 million ly). There is some uncertainty about its precise distance since two surface brightness fluctuation measurements give a distance of 9.280 ± 0.636 Mpc (~30.3 million ly), a range outside the Hubble distance determined by the galaxy's redshift survey.
01Star formation
Using infrared data collected from two regions in the center of the galaxy by the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers were able to suggest NGC 855 to be a star-forming galaxy. Its HI distribution (Neutral atomic hydrogen emission lines) suggests the star-forming activity might have been triggered by a minor merger.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “NGC 855”, 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:
- NGC855 - SDSS DR14.jpg by Sloan Digital Sky Survey, CC BY 4.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
