Object of the Week October 30, 2016-- NGC 278 (The Ninja Star Galaxy)

NGC 278

Cassiopeia

RA
00 52 04
DEC
+47 33 00

MAG 11.5 B

Type SAB(rs)b

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NGC 278 is one unusual galaxy. It's a star burst galaxy with a nuclear ring without a bar. It even has a SAB designation. NGC 278 was found by Hershel on DEC 11, 1786 with his 18.7" reflector. It is thought to have had a merger with a gas rich galaxy and that is what is the cause of the star burst activity. It is really isolated and its nearest neighbor is the dwarf galaxy UGC 672 and there is no sign of it interacting with NGC 278. This is a link to the 2008 paper on NGC 278 https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0405107v1.pdf and here are the conclusions from the paper.

1. NGC 278 is a small face-on spiral galaxy, of optical diam-
eter only 7.2 kpc. Most of this disk is not actively forming
stars, and the SF is concentrated within the central 1.5 kpc
radius.
2. The massive circumnuclear SF is organised in a nuclear
ring, which contains a set of patchy spiral arms. The H
α
velocity field shows some streaming motions due to these
spiral arms.
3. The nuclear ring in NGC 278 is not particularly large in
absolute terms (radius of one kpc) but is at least twice as
large as other nuclear rings when its size relative to that of
the host galaxy is considered, or its size relative to the sca
le
length of the disk of its host galaxy.
4. We find no evidence for the presence of a bar in NGC 278,
at any scale

Hubble image
Attachment 2333

I have observed NGC 278 several times the last two months and in the above image on the upper left you see two star forming knots that are really obvious in the eyepiece. The spiral arms look to have sharp edges and there are several bright patches inside the galaxy. A few nights ago I observed it with Steve Gottlieb and Howard Banich. I told them that it looked to my eye like a ninja throwing star with it's square looking shape and sharp spiral arms. They agreed with me that it had that appearance. I would like to know if you think NGC 278 looks like a ninja star to you.

Attachment 2334

So Give it a Go and let us Know!

It was an amazing view in Jimi's 48 inch scope, and I'll post my sketch as soon as scan my notes from this great observing run. I looked through my past observations of 278 and there's only one mention of any significant detail, which I recorded by adding several exclamation marks next to it's location on my Sky Atlas 2000 chart when I had my old 20 inch scope. Before or after I've only seen 278 to have a fairly definite perimeter and a stellar core. I think that means that to see much more than than a bright fuzz ball that exceptionally transparent and steady skies are needed. And it really did look like ninja throwing star in Jimi's scope!

NGC 278 belongs to the few "Ross Spirals". That means that this galaxy is one of the first objects from what we knew about spiral structure. William Parsons mentioned these galaxies in papers in 1850 and 1861.

A few years ago I tried to see and sketch all "Rosse Spirals". The goal was to comprehend Parsons observations. I made all observations with my 14.5", took limited time for the observations (like Parsons - around 30 minutes each) and don't look at any pictures from the objects before.

NGC 278 was a surprise to me. The problem was the small size and the required high magnification for the 14.5". But the spiral structure and several knots were definitely observable.

14.5", 404x, NELM 6m5+
Attachment 2335

Uwe I see from your drawing that you got the two star forming knots with 14.5.

Uwe do you have the drawing of 278 by Parsons? I would love to see it.

It seems like this Jimi, yes.
Like I said, I had no chart or photo with me to check the individual knots detail for detail. So I think some brighter spiral arm parts shape the structure I documented. Another problem was the to low magnification for deeper detail. But for the 14.5" it was the limit.

It was bound to happen! We have our first repeat OOTW. :o Feel free to continue the discussion under this weeks post but just so you are aware, more information about NGC 278 can be found under Rolandos post from last year.

http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthre...gn-Galaxy-quot

Great target. Thanks Jimi, I will definitely give it a try if I go out.

Here's my impression of 278 as seen through Jimi's 48 inch:

Attachment 2348 Attachment 2349

"Sweet! Jimi just dubbed this the Ninja Star Galaxy. Five knots, perhaps twp arms, dark lanes, bright core and overall swirly look with a generally boxy shape. So cool! 610x, 21.51."

Contrast this with my observation this past August with my 28 inch at the Oregon Star Party, where I saw it as "pretty much featureless glow" at 408x. I have an observation with my 20 inch in the mid-90's when I saw strong hints of knots and spiral shapes, but although tantalizing it was still quite indefinite.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Uwe Glahn

A few years ago I tried to see and sketch all "Rosse Spirals". The goal was to comprehend Parsons observations. I made all observations with my 14.5", took limited time for the observations (like Parsons - around 30 minutes each) and don't look at any pictures from the objects before.

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Comprehending Lord Rosse's observations is quite the tall order... remember he's the guy who thought the Crab Nebula warranted that moniker :thinking::D