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NGC 55
Irregular Galaxy NGC 55 (La Silla Observatory)
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Sculptor
Right ascension	00 14 53.6
Declination	−39° 11′ 48″
Redshift	129 ± 2 km/s
Distance	6.5 ± 0.65 Mly (2.00 ± 0.2 Mpc)
Apparent magnitude (V)	7.87
Characteristics
Type	SB(s)m
Mass	(2.0 ± 0.4) × 10 M☉
Apparent size (V)	32′.4 × 5′.6
Other designations
PGC 1014, Caldwell 72, 2MASS J00145360-3911478, IRAS F00124-3929, ESO 293-50, MCG -07-01-013

NGC 55, also occasionally referred to as The Whale Galaxy, is a Magellanic type barred spiral galaxy located about 6.5 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Along with its neighbor NGC 300, it is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, probably lying between the Milky Way and the Sculptor Group. It has an estimated mass of (2.0 ± 0.4) × 10 M_☉.

Nearby galaxies and group information

NGC 55 and the spiral galaxy NGC 300 have traditionally been identified as members of the Sculptor Group, a nearby group of galaxies in the constellation of the same name. However, recent distance measurements indicate that the two galaxies actually lie in the foreground.

It is likely that NGC 55 and NGC 300 form a gravitationally bound pair.

Visual appearance

The Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer's Handbook writes the following about NGC 55: "Nearly edge-on and appears asymmetrical with some signs of dust near the bulge, which is diffuse, broad and somewhat elongated with the south edge sharp; southeast of the bulge it is strongly curved and lined with 4 or 5 faint knots; north edge of the curve is sharp." Burnham calls it "one of the outstanding galaxies of the southern heavens", somewhat resembling a smaller version of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

See also

• NGC 4236
• NGC 4631

Notes

1. average(6.9 ± 0.7, 7.5 ± 1.1) = ((6.9 + 7.5) / 2) ± ((0.7 + 1.1) / 2) = 7.2 ± 0.7

References

1. R. W. Sinnott, ed. (1988). The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer. Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-933346-51-2.
2. ^ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 55. Retrieved 2006-10-17.
3. ^ Karachentsev, I. D.; Kashibadze, O. G. (2006). "Masses of the local group and of the M81 group estimated from distortions in the local velocity field". Astrophysics. 49 (1): 3–18. Bibcode:2006Ap.....49....3K. doi:10.1007/s10511-006-0002-6.
4. ^ van de Steene, G. C.; et al. (2006). "Distance determination to NGC 55 from the planetary nebula luminosity function". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 455 (3): 891–896. Bibcode:2006A&A...455..891V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053475.
5. ^ "NGC 55". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
6. Armando, Gil de Paz; et al. (2007). "The GALEX Ultraviolet Atlas of Nearby Galaxies". Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 173 (2): 185–255. arXiv:astro-ph/0606440. Bibcode:2007ApJS..173..185G. doi:10.1086/516636. S2CID 119085482.
7. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 50 - 99". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
8. "Gas and dark matter in the Sculptor group: NGC 55".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
9. I. D. Karachentsev; et al. (2003). "Distances to nearby galaxies in Sculptor". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 404 (1): 93–111. arXiv:astro-ph/0302045. Bibcode:2003A&A...404...93K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030170.
10. Jones, K. G. (1981). Webb Society Deep-Sky Observer's Handbook. Enslow Publishers. ISBN 978-0-89490-134-8. OL 8249797M.
11. Robert Burnham, Jr. (1978). Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Vol. III. New York: Dover. p. 1733. ISBN 978-0-486-24065-7.

External links

• NGC 55 in Sculptor
• SEDS: Spiral Galaxy NGC 55
• NGC 55 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images

v t e Constellation of Sculptor
List of stars in Sculptor Sculptor in Chinese astronomy
Stars	Bayer α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ κ λ λ μ ξ π σ τ Variable R BW HD 4113 4208 (Cocibolca) 9578 Other Gliese 1 Gliese 42 HE 2359-2844 LTT 9779 TOI-178 WASP-8 WASP-45 WD 0137−349
Exoplanets HD 4113 b HD 4208 b TOI-178c WASP-8b
Star clusters Blanco 1 NGC 288
Galaxies	NGC 7 10 24 55 101 115 131 134 148 150 174 254 264 289 300 314 334 365 378 409 415 418 423 424 427 438 439 441 461 491 526 527 544 549 612 613 626 630 7793 7812 Other 2MASX J00482185−2507365 occulting pair A2744 YD4 Abell 2744 Y1 Cartwheel Galaxy Comet Galaxy ESO 540-030 H2356-309 Haro 11 IC 5332 Sculptor Galaxy Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy Sculptor Dwarf Irregular Galaxy UNCOVER-z12 UNCOVER-z13
Galaxy clusters Abell 2667 Abell 2744
Astronomical events SN 2009gj
Category

• Irregular galaxies
• Barred irregular galaxies
• Sculptor (constellation)
• NGC objects
• MCG objects
• Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects
• Caldwell objects
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1826
• Virgo Supercluster