NGC 128

{{Infobox Galaxy

| name = NGC 128

| image = File:NGC 128 Mount Lemmon Sky Center.jpg

| caption = NGC 128 with smaller galaxies NGC 130 (left) and NGC 127 (right)

| epoch = J2000

| ra = {{RA|00|29|15.047}}

| dec = {{DEC|+02|51|50.60}}

| constellation name = Pisces

| h_radial_v = 4363 km/s

| z = 0.01466

| dist_ly = {{cvt|190|Mly|Mpc|lk=on}}

| group_cluster =

| type = S0

| size =

| appmag_v = 11.63{{cite web|url=http://leda.univ-lyon1.fr/ledacat.cgi?o=NGC%20128|title=Search specification: NGC 128|work=HyperLeda|publisher=Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1|accessdate=2021-02-12}}

| appmag_b = 12.65

| absmag_v =

| size_v =

| notes =

| names = {{odlist|UGC=292|MCG=+00-02-051|PGC=1791}}{{cite simbad|title=NGC 128|accessdate=2021-02-12}}

}}

NGC 128 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is approximately 190 million light-years from the Sun and has a diameter of about 165,000 light-years.{{cite web | url=http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc1.htm#128 | title=New General Catalog Objects: NGC 100 - 149 | publisher=Celestial Atlas | access-date=25 January 2016}}

Discovery

NGC 128 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on 25 December 1790 using a reflecting telescope with an aperture of 18.7 inches. At the time of discovery, its coordinates were recorded as 00h 22m 05s, +87° 54.6′ -20.0″.{{cite web |title=NGC 128 |url=http://www.ngcicproject.org/pubdb.htm |website=The NGC/IC Project |access-date=5 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528100240/http://www.ngcicproject.org/pubdb.htm |archive-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead }} It was later observed by John Herschel

on 12 October 1827.

Visual appearance

The galaxy is described as "pretty bright", "very small" with a "brighter middle". It is approximately 165,000 light years in diameter and is elongated.{{cite book | title=3,000 Deep-Sky Objects: An Annotated Catalogue | publisher=Springer Science & Business Media | author=Aranda, Ted | year=2011 | pages=54 | isbn=9781441994196}} The galaxy is famous for its (peanut shell)-shaped bulge, and in 2016 it was discovered that there are two such nested structures, possibly associated with two stellar bars.Bogdan C. Ciambur; Alister W. Graham (2016), [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.459.1276C Quantifying the (X/peanut)-shaped structure in edge-on disc galaxies: length, strength, and nested peanuts]

Galaxy group information

NGC 128 is the largest member, and the namesake of, the NGC 128 group which also includes the galaxies NGC 127 and NGC 130. NGC 128 has a strong tidal bridge with NGC 127 and there is evidence of interaction between all three galaxies in the group. NGC 128 has a noticeable peanut shape that is likely to be caused by gravitational effects of the other two galaxies.{{cite book | title=Dynamics and Interactions of Galaxies | publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin | author=Jarvis, B | year=1990 | pages=416–417 | chapter=The NGC 128 Group of Galaxies| doi=10.1007/978-3-642-75273-5_104 |isbn = 978-3-642-75275-9}}