NGC 1097

Alt. Designations:

ARP 77

Object Type:

barred spiral galaxy

Constellation:

Fornax

Distance:

45 mly

Right Ascension:

02h 46m 19.5s

Declination:

-30° 16´ 32"

Visual Magnitude:

9.5

Apparent Dimension:

9.4´ X 6.6´

Best Month To View:

Nov

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy about 45 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. Three supernovae (SN 1992bd, SN 1999eu, and SN 2003B) have been observed in NGC 1097. Like most massive galaxies, NGC 1097 has a supermassive black hole at its center. Around the central black hole is a ring of star-forming regions with a network of gas and dust that spirals from the ring to the black hole. NGC 1097 has two satellite galaxies.