NGC 1275

Peculiar Galaxy NGC 1275 (= H II.603 = GC 675 = 3C 84), type E pec, in Perseus

Perseus A

[NGC 1275 image]
Right Ascension 03 : 19.8 (h:m)
Declination +41 : 31 (deg:m)
Distance 235,000 (kly)
Visual brightness 11.6 (mag)
Apparent dimension 2.6 x 1.9 (arc min)

NGC 1275 was one of William Herschel's discoveries; he found it on October 17, 1786. John Herschel included it in the GC from observations of d'Arrest and apparently never observed it himself.

It is the dominant member of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies and a strong radio source, therefore named Perseus A, and 3C 84 from its entry in the 3rd Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources. It is also a strong X-ray source. Its nucleus shows emission lines and is of Seyfert type 1 - this galaxy was in Carl Seyfert's original list of galaxies with peculiar emission lines in their nucleus, now called Seyfert galaxies. Filaments of gaseous material are moving explosively outward at 1500 miles per second.

The image in this page was obtained with the 4-meter Mayall telescope on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona. Credit: AURA/NOAO(NOIRLAB)/NSF.

  • More information on this image (N.A. Sharp, NOAO)

    Supernova 1968A was discovered in NGC 1275 on January 25, 1968 by Lovas 7"E and 24"S of the galaxy's nucleus and reached mag 15.5 (IAUC 2051).

  • Hubble Space Telescope images of Perseus A:
  • NGC 1275 gaseous filaments and HST view from Bill Keel's Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei collection
  • NGC 1275 in the X-rays, Chandra X-ray Observatory
  • NGC 1275 by Rosat HRI
  • 3C 84 in radio light (VLA)

  • SIMBAD Data for NGC 1275
  • NED Data for NGC 1275
  • NGC Online data for NGC 1275
  • Observing Reports for NGC 1275 (IAAC Netastrocatalog)

    [Constellations] | [SEDS] | [MAA]

    Hartmut Frommert
    Christine Kronberg
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