NGC 1281
Galaxy in the constellation Perseus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 1281 is a compact[3] elliptical galaxy[4] located about 200 million light-years away[3] in the constellation Perseus.[5] NGC 1281 was discovered by astronomer John Dreyer on December 12, 1876.[6] It is a member of the Perseus Cluster.[7][6]
| NGC 1281 | |
|---|---|
 A near-infrared image of NGC 1281. | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Right ascension | 03h 20m 06.1s[1] |
| Declination | 41° 37′ 48″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.014343[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 4300 km/s[1] |
| Distance | 195.7 ± 3.3 Mly (60 ± 1 Mpc)[2] |
| Group or cluster | Perseus Cluster |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.5[1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | E5[1] |
| Mass/Light ratio | 1.7[3] M☉/L☉ |
| Size | ~17,000 ly (5.2 kpc) (estimated) |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.0 x 0.7[1] |
| Half-light radius (physical) | ~4,200 ly (1.3 kpc) (estimated)[3] |
| Other designations | |
| CGCG 540-108, MCG 7-7-67, PGC 12458[1] | |
Like NGC 1277 and NGC 1271, NGC 1281 is a candidate "relic galaxy".[8]
Supermassive black hole
The supermassive black hole in NGC 1281 has an estimated mass of about 10 billion solar masses (1010 M☉).[3] However, Anna Ferré-Mateu et al. estimated the black hole has a mass of no more than 5 billion solar masses.[8]
See also
Notes
- 1.^ This value was determined by using the given half-light radius.
