NGC 772

NGC 772
NGC 772
	NGC 772 imaged by the Gemini Observatory
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Aries
Right ascension	01h 59m 19.6s
Declination	+19° 00′ 27″
Redshift	2472 ± 3 km/s
Distance	130 Mly[citation needed]
Apparent magnitude (V)	11.1
Characteristics
Type	SA(s)b
Apparent size (V)	7.2′ × 4.3′
Other designations
	UGC 1466, PGC 7525, Arp 78

NGC 772 (also known as Arp 78 or the Fiddlehead Galaxy^[3]) is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Aries.

Characteristics

At around 200,000 light years in diameter, NGC 772 is somewhat larger than the Milky Way Galaxy,^[4] and is surrounded by several satellite galaxies – including the dwarf elliptical, NGC 770 – whose tidal forces on the larger galaxy have likely caused the emergence of a single elongated outer spiral arm that is much more developed and stronger than the others arms. Halton Arp includes NGC 772 in his Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 78, where it is described as a "Spiral galaxy with a small high-surface brightness companion".

Three supernovae have been observed in NGC 772. SN 2003hl (Type II, mag. 16.5)^[5] was discovered on 20 August 2003. SN 2003iq (Type II, mag. 16.4)^[6] was discovered on 8 October 2003.^[7] SN 2022qze (type IIP, mag. 19.9) was discovered on 8 August 2022.^[8]

NGC 772 probably has a H II nucleus, but it may be a transitional object.^[9]

Gallery

RGB image of the galaxy NGC 772 and dwarf galaxy NGC 770 (top center) interacting, from the Liverpool Telescope
Center of the galaxy imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.^[10]
Two supernovae in the galaxy (SN 2003hl & 2003iq) and asteroid 6223 Dahl passing through the shot