NGC 7222 is a large barred spiral galaxy with a ring structure,[1] located in the constellation Aquarius.[2] It is located 570 million light-years away from the Solar System[3] and was discovered by German astronomer, Albert Marth on August 11, 1864.[4]
| NGC 7222 | |
|---|---|
 Sloan Digital Sky Survey image of barred spiral galaxy NGC 7222 | |
| Observation data | |
| Constellation | Aquarius |
| Right ascension | 22h 10m 51.760s |
| Declination | +02d 06m 20.87s |
| Redshift | 0.041195 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 12,350 km/s |
| Distance | 568 Mly (174.1 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.59 |
| Surface brightness | 14.20 mag/am |
| Characteristics | |
| Size | 281,000 ly |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.2 x 1.2 arcmin |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 68224, UGC 11934, CGCG 377-035, MCG +00-56-012, 2MASX J22105172+0206205, NSA 149629, SDSS J221051.74+020620.9, LEDA 68224 | |
NGC 7222 has a luminosity class of II and it has a broad H I line which contains regions of ionized hydrogen.[3] NGC 7222 also has a surface brightness of 14.20 mag/am, which means it is considered a low surface brightness galaxy (LSB).[5] LSBs are diffuse galaxies that have surface brightness one magnitude lower compared to the ambient night sky.
Supernova
One supernova has been discovered in NGC 7222 so far: SN 2008dr.
SN 2008dr
SN 2008dr was discovered by a team of astronomers; J. Leja, D. Madison, W. Li, and A. V. Filippenko from University of California, Berkeley as part of Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS).[6] It had a magnitude of 16.8 and was located 1".3 west and 8".1 north of the nucleus.[7][8] SN 2008dr was confirmed to be a Type Ia.[9][10]
Companion galaxy
NGC 7222 has a companion which is a spiral galaxy, PGC 68229, also known as CGCG 377-036.[11] The galaxy is located west of NGC 7222 at close proximity and is 579 million light-years distant.[12] It is possible both galaxies together make up a galactic pair.[4]