NGC 7742

Pegasus

RA
23 44 15

DEC
+10 46 00

MAG V 11.9

Type Seyfert II AGN SA

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I must say I am not a big fan of the name Fried Egg Galaxy that the Hubble team hung on this unusual galaxy in 1998. The enhanced image below is how it got the name.

ngc7742.jpg

NGC 7742 is a most unusual type of galaxy. A non barred galaxy with a AGN and a nuclear ring. It was found by W Herschel in 1784 with his 18.7" reflector and lies at a distance of 70MLY. Most nuclear ring galaxies have a bar, but not NGC 7742. There is much debate as to how it got its star forming ring. One idea is it had a minor merger with a small gas rich dwarf galaxy and enhanced the core of the super massive black hole at it's center. This galaxy is in the same class as Hoags Object and no one has a clue as to how it formed.

NGC 7742 inverted.jpg

While I was doing research on this galaxy I found in the NED notes that the ring in NGC 7742 was rich in H beta and O III. This got me to thinking the many H II knots in the ring might be enhanced with the DGM galaxy contrast filter. Below I inverted the Hubble image to show the many H II regions in the ring.

cutout_hst_06276_04_wfpc2_f336w_wf_sci.jpg

I am anxious to hear of your observations of this unusual galaxy and I will let you know of my results with the DGM GCF filter and as always

"GIVE IT A GO AND LET US KNOW"