NGC 7678
UGC12614
Arp 28

Pegasus

RA 23 28 27.9
DEC +22 25 16

Type: Galaxy SAB(rs)c

Size 2.3’ x 1.6’

Mag: 12.7

Approximately 140million light years away and nearly dead center in the Great Square of Pegasus lies this weeks OOTW. NGC7678, also known as Arp 28, is a spiral galaxy with what Halton Arp called a “heavy arm”. NGC7678 has an asymmetric appearance in photographs and the eyepiece. A beautiful face-on spiral, its southernmost arm is quite more dramatic than the others which may be caused by intense star forming regions.

Rather easy to find the field, NGC7678 lays 1.2˚ southeast of 4.4 mag Upsilon Pegasi. The galaxy itself is nicely framed within a trio of 12th magnitude stars creating a triangle.
In my 25 and at low power, I find the galaxy is a rather large diffuse glow with a brightening at its southern end. At 300x and higher, I observe a bright non stellar core as well its arms. The heavy arm also starts to stand out much more apparently at higher power. NGC 7678 itself should be readily visible in scopes down to about 12” but high power and good skies may be required to distinguish this galaxies’ notable feature.

One other interesting little tidbit, NGC 7678 has been rather active as it’s been a host for 3 supernovae in the last 16 years, with the most recent occurring in 2009. None of the 3 most recent supernovae occurred in the heavy arm. All occurred on the opposite side of the galaxies core. The three supernovae were:

2009ga reaching 16th mag
2002dp reaching 15th mag
1997da reaching 18th mag.

So as Pegasus rides high in these September skies, look for NGC7678 in the relatively empty area of sky near the center of the Great Square of Pegasus. You may just be surprised at what you can see!

And as always:

“Give it a go and let us know!
Good luck and great viewing!”

NGC_7678 I 103aE dss1.gif