Little Sombrero (NGC 7814)
History
This galaxy was discovered on 8 October 1874 by the German-British astronomer William Herschel with his 18.7 inch reflecting telescope. He listed it as II 240, with class «II» standing for faint nebulae. He described it as «pretty faint, pretty large, irregularly round, easily resolvable» [463] John LE Dreyer entered the galaxy as NGC 7814 in his «New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars» published in 1888. [313]
Physical Properties
The distances, determined by different methods, range from 12.8 Mpc to 19.2 Mpc (41.7 to 62.6 million light years). [145]. We are looking directly at the edge of this spiral galaxy, which is also called «Little Sombrero» because of its appearance with the prominent dust band, in reference to the Sombrero Galaxy Messier 104.
Just 10 arc minutes south is the small galaxy IC 5381, discovered photographically on November 17, 1895 by the British astronomer Isaac Roberts with a 20 inch reflecting telescope. [277] It is located at a distance of 206 Mpc (672 million light years) much more distant than NGC 7814 and has nothing to do with this galaxy. [145]
| Name | RA | Dec | Type | bMag | vMag | B-V | SB | Dim | PA | z | D(z) | MD | Dreyer Description | Identification, Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 7814 | 00 03 14.8 | +16 08 43 | Gx (Sab) | 11.6 | 10.6 | 1.0 | 13.2 | 5.5 × 2.3 | 135 | 0.003502 | 14.79 | 17.170 | cB, cL, E, vgbM | WH II 240; h 2297; GC 5046; UGC 8; MCG 3-1-20; CGCG 456-24; KUG 0000+158 |
| IC 5381 | 00 03 11.1 | +15 57 55 | Gx (Sab) | 14.9 | 14.1 | 0.8 | 12.9 | 1.3 × 0.3 | 54 | 0.037463 | 158.2 | pF, S, lE spnf, bM, * 13 nr | UGC 7; MCG 3-1-19; CGCG 456-23 |
Finder Chart
The galaxy NGC 7814 is located in the constellation Pegasus. The best observation time is June to December, when it is highest at night.
