AAO image reference UKS 13. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 1.5 degrees
Image and text © 1983-2010, Australian Astronomical Observatory
Photograph from UK Schmidt plates by David Malin.
Galaxies can be separated by their appearance into two broad groups, spirals and ellipticals. An example of a spiral galaxy, NGC 1365, is seen in the lower right corner of this picture. In contrast, most of the galaxies in this cluster are ellipticals, which contain little or no gas or evidence of star formation; indeed they are composed millions of rather old, yellowish stars. Unlike many of the stars in spiral systems, those in ellipticals have orbits which are not confined to a narrow plane, so the galaxy can have a shape anywhere between a perfect sphere and an American football. This kind of galaxy is the most common type in the photograph as it is in all of the nearby Universe.
The picture also illustrates another distinctive property of ellipticals, their gregarious nature - they congregate in clusters, like this group of galaxies in > Fornax, 60 million light years distant. We also have a wider field view of the cluster that includes Fornax A (NGC 1316-17) and a much deeper image that shows how large these galaxies are.
Constellation of Fornax (external site)
Below are listed the NGC objects in this photograph listed in NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
NGC 1365 Gx 03 33.6 -36 08 s For9.89.5 !! vB, vL, mE, rN NGC 1369- 03 34.1 -36 17 r For F NGC 1373 Gx 03 35.1 -35 11 r For eF, vS, p of 3 NGC 1375 Gx 03 35.2 -35 16 s For1.9 B, S, lE, pmbM, 3rd of 3 NGC 1374 Gx 03 35.3 -35 14 s For1.8 12. p vB, pL, lE, gmbM, 2nd of 3 NGC 1378 D* 03 35.9 -35 12 r For F NGC 1379 Gx 03 36.1 -35 27 s For2.0 12. p glob. cl. , B, pL, R, gpmbM NGC 1380 Gx 03 36.5 -34 59 s For4.9 11. p vB, L, R, psbM NGC 1380A 03 36.8 -34 44 For NGC 1381 Gx 03 36.6 -35 18 s For2.9 12. p F NGC 1392 Gx 03 36.8 -36 16 r Eri vF, pS, R NGC 1386 Gx 03 36.9 -36 00 s Eri3.5 12. p F NGC 1387 Gx 03 37.0 -35 31 s For2.4 12. p glob. cl. , vB, pL, R, gmbM NGC 1382 Gx 03 37.1 -35 12 c For2.1 F NGC 1389 Gx 03 37.2 -35 45 s Eri2.1 13. p F NGC 1396- 03 38.1 -35 40 r Eri F NGC 1399 Gx 03 38.5 -35 27 s For3.29.9 glob. cl. , vB, pL, psbM, rr NGC 1404 Gx 03 38.9 -35 35 s For2.5 10.3 vB, pL, R, psmbM NGC 1408- 03 39.4 -35 31 r For FThe hotlinked NGC and IC names lead to More information on the galaxies which is reproduced
by permission from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
See also NED data for the Fornax cluster
Related images
AAT 55. The barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365
UKS 13a. The Fornax cluster of galaxies, wide field view
fornax_cl_d The Fornax cluster of galaxies
n1365_d Deep image of NGC 1365
n1399_d NGC 1399 and NGC 1404
For details of object position and photographic exposure, search technical table by UKS reference number.