NGC 1407 is an

elliptical galaxy An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy with an approximately ellipsoidal shape and a smooth, nearly featureless image. They are one of the three main galaxy morphological classification, classes of galaxy described by Edwin Hubble in his Hub ...

in Eridanus. It is at a distance of 76 million

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...

s from Earth. It is the brightest galaxy in the NGC 1407 Group, part of the Eridanus Group, with NGC 1407 being its brightest member. NGC 1400, the second-brightest of the group lies 11.8 arcmin away. NGC 1407 is X-ray luminous, with high hot gas Fe abundance, and with evidence of recurrent radio outbursts. In the central area of the galaxy are present old stars, with mean age 12.0 ± 1.1 Gyrs, that are metal rich and with supersolar abundances of α-elements. Observations indicate that NGC 1407 hasn't recently undergone strong star-formation activity. The galaxy hosts a

supermassive black hole A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions, of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical ...

with a mass 1.12 ± 0.42 billion

solar mass The solar mass () is a frequently used unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is approximately equal to the mass of the Sun. It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxie ...

es, based on velocity dispersion. The galaxy was discovered by 6 October 1785 by

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

Gallery

File:NGC 1407 DSS.jpg, DSS image of NGC 1407 File:NGC 1407 PanS.jpg,

Pan-STARRS The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1; List of observatory codes, obs. code: IAU code#F51, F51 and Pan-STARRS2 obs. code: IAU code#F52, F52) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical ...

image of NGC 1407 File:NGC 1407 group legacy dr10.jpg, NGC 1407 group with the legacy surveys

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 1407 Eridanus Group Eridanus (constellation) Elliptical galaxies

1407 Year 1407 ( MCDVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 20 – Ming–Việt War: China conquers Dong Do, the eastern capital of Dai Ngu (now Hanoi, capital of Vietna ...

013505