Galaxy NGC 1964

NGC 1964
NGC 1964: Image taken with MPG/ESO 2.2 telescope on La Silla. © 2017 ESO/Jean-Christophe Lambry [644]

History

This galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on 20 December 1784 using his 18.7 inch reflector. He cataloged it as IV 21 and noted: «Very small, stellar, very bright nucleus and very faint chevelure, not quite central.» [463] His son John observed the galaxy on 21 November 1835 (sweep 647), cataloged it as h 2860 and noted: «Faint, irregular round, very suddenly brighter in the middel, to a star 12 mag, 2 or 3 stars invoved, and several bright ones near.» [11] Dreyer added the galaxy as NGC 1964 to his New General Catalogue published in 1888. [313]

Physical Properties

NGC 1964 belongs together with NGC 1979 and IC 2138 to the group of galaxies [CHM2007] HDC 362 which is around 23 Mpc away. [145]

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
Designation NGC 1964
Type Gx (SBb)
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 05h 33m 21.8s
Declination (J2000.0) -21° 56' 43"
Diameter 5.6 × 1.8 arcmin
Photographic (blue) magnitude 11.6 mag
Visual magnitude 10.8 mag
Surface brightness 13.4 mag·arcmin-2
Position Angle 32°
Redshift (z) 0.005534
Distance derived from z 23.38 Mpc
Metric Distance 21.410 Mpc
Dreyer Description F, vS, R, vsvmbM * 12, 3 st inv
Identification, Remarks WH IV 21; h 2860; GC 1170; ESO 554-10; MCG -4-14-3; IRAS 05312-2158

Finder Chart

The galaxy NGC 1964 can be found in the constellation Lepus, just south of Orion. The best time to observe is October to February.

Finder Chart Galaxy NGC 1964
Galaxy NGC 1964 in constellation Lepus. Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. [149, 160]

Objects Within a Radius of 20°

References

  • [11] «Results of astronomical observations made during the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8, at the Cape of Good Hope ... : being the completion of a telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens, commenced in 1825» Herschel, John F. W.; London : published by Smith, Elder and Co., 1847; DOI:10.3931/e-rara-22242
  • [145] SIMBAD astronomical database; simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad
  • [149] SkySafari 6 Pro, Simulation Curriculum; skysafariastronomy.com
  • [160] The STScI Digitized Sky Survey; archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
  • [277] «Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge» von Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke (2021-02-17)
  • [313] «A New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, being the Catalogue of the late Sir John F.W. Herschel, Bart., revised, corrected, and enlarged» Dreyer, J. L. E. (1888); Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. 49: 1–237; Bibcode:1888MmRAS..49....1D
  • [463] «Catalogue of one thousand new nebulae and clusters of stars» William Herschel, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1 January 1786; DOI:10.1098/rstl.1786.0027
  • [644] Stars and spirals; eso.org/public/images/potw1739a (2023-09-06)