IC 1101 Giant Elliptical One Billion Light Years Away

[Bruce Sokol]

IC 1101

RA 15 10 56.1
Dec +05 44 41
Dia. 1.2' x 0.6'

This galaxy lies at the center of Abell 2029 one billion light years away. NED lists a mag. of 14.73, it looks 0.5 mag. brighter to me. This
galaxy is a monster, it has a diameter of 5.6 to 6 million light years, and a mass of 100 trillion stars. If our galaxy were to be replaced
with this monster, it would swallow up the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies and most of the space in between. Its enough to blow
your mind! If you want to join the Billion Light Year Club, give it a try. Its located in Serpens Caput about 4 degrees from M5.


Clear Skies

Bruce


18" f4.5 Obsession

[KidOrion]

Sounds like a good target. I'll have to check it out at OSP.

[Uwe Glahn]

Alvin posted a thread about IC 1101 back in 2012 here

I have an observation of the galaxy itself and some of the companions. Wish I had a little bit more aperture to show more companions. Nevertheless stunning object.

27", 419x, NELM 6m5+
IC1101.jpg

[Steve Gottlieb]

Another cool thing is this galaxy was discovered visually by 19-year old Edward Swift with his father's (Lewis Swift) 16-inch Clark refractor on 19 Jun 1890. Lewis and Edward disagreed on the description after the telescope was moved and since they never returned for a second look, there is no description in the IC.

[vasilas432]

Sounds impressive, I will give it a try on my next session

[glxytrios]

Steve, According to Wikipedia "The galaxy was discovered on 19 June 1790 by the British astronomer Frederick William Herschel I. It was catalogued in 1895 by John Louis Emil Dreyer as the 1,101st object of the Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters (IC)." I trust your research more than Wikipedia, but I wonder, is there is a story here?
Clear skies, Miles (Glxytrios).

[glxytrios]

Bruce, According to both Uranometria 2000 and MegaStar, IC 1101 is not in Serpens , but is just over the border in Virgo.
Clear skies, Miles (Glxytrios)

[Steve Gottlieb]

Steve, According to Wikipedia "The galaxy was discovered on 19 June 1790 by the British astronomer Frederick William Herschel I. It was catalogued in 1895 by John Louis Emil Dreyer as the 1,101st object of the Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters (IC)." I trust your research more than Wikipedia, but I wonder, is there is a story here?
Clear skies, Miles (Glxytrios).

Hi Miles. Not that I'm aware of, but Wikipedia clearly has incorrect information. First off, all of William Herschel's published discoveries are in the NGC. The IC I and II generally include discoveries made after 1886 (there are a few exceptions). Secondly, Herschel made NO discoveries in June of 1790. Thirdly, the discovery date given in Wikipedia is off by exactly a century!

The correct historical information can be found on Wolfgang Steinicke's site. Specifically, a list of all of Edward Swift's discoveries and dates are here.

Miles is correct about the constellation Virgo.

[Bruce Sokol]

Hi Miles, I stand corrected. I knew it was near M5, I did a quick look in the pocket atlas, I should have used uranometria. I plan on taking another look in
the 18", and this time I will bring my aperture masks to see if an 8" or 10" will show this guy. I will be observing in the mountains in Julian Ca. Elevation
4,500 ft. SQM range 21.4 to 21.6. This might be the last chance to see IC 1101 before it sinks into the light dome of San Diego. Thanks Steve, for all
the info on the discovery, we should just call you Steveopedia.

Clear Skies

Bruce

[vasilas432]

I observed IC 1101 on 06 of August at about 23:00 from 21.5 sky and about 1.500m height. It was very low on horizon and the moon was visible until 22:00, despite those bad circumstances the galaxy appeared very big with low brightness and there was a companion next to it too.

Clear Skies
Vassilios
24.4" f/3.2

[zurui]

Hi everybody.
Waiting alot for the results of 8 inch aperture results on ic 1101.

[zurui]

If anybody observed it in 8 inch please write in here.look forward to it very much