Darth Vader's Galaxy (NGC 936)
History
This galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on 6 January 1785 using his 18.7 inch reflector. He cataloged it as IV 23 (Class IV = planetary nebulae, stars with burs, with milky chevelure, with short rays, remarkable shapes, etc.) and noted: «Considerably bright, a very bright nucleus with a chevelure of 3 or 4' diameter.» [463] His son John later observed the galaxy on 24 November 1821, cataloged it as h 223 and described it as «very bright, very large, round, pretty suddenly brighter in the middle, 2' diameter, fades away insensibly.» [466] Dreyer added the galaxy as NGC 936 to his New General Catalogue published in 1888. [313]
In the same night when William Herschel found NGC 936 he also cataloged a very faint nebula to the east as III 261 and noted: «very faint, considerably large.» [463] That discovery ended up as NGC 941. [313]
Due to the galaxy NGC 936 unusual shape resembling Darth Vader's TIE fighter in the 1977 Star Wars movie, it got nicknamed «Darth Vader's Galaxy». [641]
Physical Properties
NGC 936 harbours exclusively old stars and shows no sign of any recent star formation. It is debatable whether this galaxy is dominated, like most others, by a large amount of dark matter. [641] The redshift is z ≈ 0.004096. Given distances for NGC 936 range from 18 Mpc through 28 Mpc. The small galaxy NGC 941 has a redshift of z ≈ 0.005397 and lies around 16 Mpc to 21 Mpc away. [145]
| Name | RA | Dec | Type | bMag | vMag | B-V | SB | Dim | PA | z | D(z) | MD | Dreyer Description | Identification, Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 936 | 02 27 37.5 | -01 09 23 | Gx (SB0-a) | 11.1 | 10.2 | 0.9 | 13.2 | 4.7 × 4.1 | 135 | 0.004770 | 20.15 | 20.680 | vB, vL, R, mbMN, p of 2 | WH IV 23; h 223; GC 544; UGC 1929; MCG 0-7-17; CGCG 388-18 |
| NGC 941 | 02 28 27.8 | -01 09 04 | Gx (SBc) | 12.9 | 12.4 | 0.5 | 14.1 | 2.7 × 1.8 | 170 | 0.005364 | 22.66 | 21.200 | vF, cL, R, f of 2 | WH III 261; h 224; GC 546; UGC 1954; MCG 0-7-22; CGCG 388-23; KUG 0225-013; IRAS 02259-0122 |
Finder Chart
The galaxy NGC 908 is located in the constellation Cetus. On 31 October it is in opposition to the Sun and crosses the meridian at local midnight. The best observation time is September to December.
Visual Observation
762 mm Aperture: The bright core of the galaxy NGC 936 is slightly elongated. This small but bright central region is surrounded by a much fainter, more circular outer region. — 30" SlipStream-Dobson f/3.3, Hasliberg, 26. 12. 2024, SQM-L 21.17, Elena + Eduard von Bergen