NGC 985

galaxy

Key facts

Constellation: Cetus
Right ascension: 02 34 37.8
Declination: −08 ° 47 ′ 15 ″
Redshift: 0.043143 ± 0.000073
Heliocentric radial velocity: 12,934 ± 22 km / s
Distance: 567 Mly (174 Mpc )
Type: Ring pec
Apparent size v: 1.0 ′ × 0.9 ′
Notable features: Seyfert galaxy

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Distance from Earth: 187.7
Image: NGC 0985 SDSS.jpg

Show 9 more facts

time of discovery or invention: 1886-00-00
catalog code: PBC J0234.7-0846
redshift: 0.0432
galaxy morphological type: 4
apparent magnitude: 13.382
Commons category: NGC 985
right ascension: 38.6578417
declination: -8.7880611
radial velocity: 12934

Sources (1)

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Article

NGC 985 is a ring galaxy in the constellation of Cetus. It is located about 550 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 985 is approximately 160,000 light years across. It was discovered by Francis Leavenworth in 1886. It is a type 1 Seyfert galaxy.

NGC 985 is characterised by its ring shape. It is believed it was formed as a result of a galaxy merger. Further evidence supporting this theory is the observation of a second nucleus in NGC 985. When observed in infrared light, a second nucleus was found 3.8 arcseconds northwest of the active nucleus. It is much redder than the rest of the galaxy, indicating the presence of old stars. It has been suggested that the collision between a disk galaxy with another galaxy caused the formation of the ring and displaced the nucleus of the galaxy, creating an empty ring. Based on the kinematics of the galaxy, the secondary nucleus belonged to the intruder galaxy, while the active nucleus is associated with the main stellar component.