wvreeven
October 4th, 2019, 12:02 PM
NGC 7469, Arp 298
Seyfert 1 galaxy
Constellation: Pegasus
RA: 23 03 15.674
DEC: +08 52 25.28
Visual magnitude: 12.34
Dimensions: 1.38' x 1.15'
NGC 7469 is an annular Seyfert 1 galaxy and, together with IC 5283, forms Arp 298. Some background on Seyfert galaxies can be found in an earlier OOTW article of mine (http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthread.php?1137-Object-Of-The-Week-March-10-2018-NGC-3147) and also Halton Arp and his catalog were discussed on this forum before (sorry for not being able to find a link to this discussion).
3651
Hubble Space Telescope image of the Arp 298 system
NGC 7469 was discovered by William Herschel on November 12, 1784. In 1943 this galaxy was one of the six listed by Carl Seyfert to have broad emission lines in their nucleus. Because of the AGN nature of the nucleus, several studies have found variability in optical emission but also UV and X-ray. Apart from that, this galaxy has a striking circumnuclear starburst ring. This ring, together with the Seyfert nucleus, made this galaxy one of the key targets for studying their relation. Finally, the interaction with IC 5283 probably is the cause of the starburst activity in NGC 7469 and the tidal tail of IC 5283.
Visually NGC 7469 is not very difficult due to the relatively bright nucleus but the galaxy contains several details that are much harder to see. The smallest aperture reported at DeepSkyLog (http://deepskylog.org) is 8” or 20 cm but due to the compactness of the galaxy and its relatively high brightness I'd expect it to be visible in 6” or 15 cm telescopes and possibly a bit smaller.
My own notes with my 20” telescope from an SQM 21.0 sky read:
“At 320x I see a bright center with a faint star on one side. Around the center I see an oval and I think I sometimes see two dark spots indicating that the oval actually is a ring. No sign of the outer ring. At higher magnifications the faint star becomes better visible but I don't see the dark spots anymore.”
Interestingly I do not mention IC 5283 which probably means that I didn't know of the Arp nature of the duo at the time of my observation. I will revisit this pair from a darker location some time (hopefully) soon.
As always,
"Give it a go and let us know!
Good luck and great viewing!"
Seyfert 1 galaxy
Constellation: Pegasus
RA: 23 03 15.674
DEC: +08 52 25.28
Visual magnitude: 12.34
Dimensions: 1.38' x 1.15'
NGC 7469 is an annular Seyfert 1 galaxy and, together with IC 5283, forms Arp 298. Some background on Seyfert galaxies can be found in an earlier OOTW article of mine (http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthread.php?1137-Object-Of-The-Week-March-10-2018-NGC-3147) and also Halton Arp and his catalog were discussed on this forum before (sorry for not being able to find a link to this discussion).
3651
Hubble Space Telescope image of the Arp 298 system
NGC 7469 was discovered by William Herschel on November 12, 1784. In 1943 this galaxy was one of the six listed by Carl Seyfert to have broad emission lines in their nucleus. Because of the AGN nature of the nucleus, several studies have found variability in optical emission but also UV and X-ray. Apart from that, this galaxy has a striking circumnuclear starburst ring. This ring, together with the Seyfert nucleus, made this galaxy one of the key targets for studying their relation. Finally, the interaction with IC 5283 probably is the cause of the starburst activity in NGC 7469 and the tidal tail of IC 5283.
Visually NGC 7469 is not very difficult due to the relatively bright nucleus but the galaxy contains several details that are much harder to see. The smallest aperture reported at DeepSkyLog (http://deepskylog.org) is 8” or 20 cm but due to the compactness of the galaxy and its relatively high brightness I'd expect it to be visible in 6” or 15 cm telescopes and possibly a bit smaller.
My own notes with my 20” telescope from an SQM 21.0 sky read:
“At 320x I see a bright center with a faint star on one side. Around the center I see an oval and I think I sometimes see two dark spots indicating that the oval actually is a ring. No sign of the outer ring. At higher magnifications the faint star becomes better visible but I don't see the dark spots anymore.”
Interestingly I do not mention IC 5283 which probably means that I didn't know of the Arp nature of the duo at the time of my observation. I will revisit this pair from a darker location some time (hopefully) soon.
As always,
"Give it a go and let us know!
Good luck and great viewing!"