NGC 877

{{Short description|Galaxy located in the constellation Aries}}

{{Infobox galaxy

| name = NGC 877

| image = NGC 877-876 PanSTARRS1 i.g.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = NGC 877 (left) and NGC 876 (right) by PanSTARRS

| credit =

| epoch = J2000

| type = SAB(rs)bc {{cite web

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work=Results for NGC 877

| url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=NGC+877

| access-date=2016-01-18 }}

| ra = {{RA|02|17|59.6}}

| dec = {{DEC|+14|32|38}}

| dist_ly = 154 ± 25 Mly (47.1 ± 7.5 Mpc)

| z = 0.013052 ± 0.000010

| h_radial_v = 3,913 ± 3 km/s

| appmag_v = 11.8 {{cite web |title=Revised NGC Data for NGC 877 |url=http://spider.seds.org/ngc/revngcic.cgi?NGC877 |website=spider.seds.org |access-date=25 November 2018}}

| size_v = 2.4{{prime}} × 1.8{{prime}}

| constellation name = Aries

| notes = Luminous infrared galaxy

| names = UGC 1768, CGCG 438-052, MCG +02-06-058, PGC 8775

}}

NGC 877 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 160 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 877 is about 115,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 14, 1784.{{cite web |last1=Seligman |first1=Courtney |title=NGC 877 (= PGC 8775) |url=https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc8a.htm#877 |website=Celestial Atlas |access-date=19 November 2018}} It interacts with NGC 876.

NGC 877 features two spiral arms with a grand design pattern and slightly disturbed morphology. When pictured in H-alpha, the arms have numerous knots and appear brighter than the nucleus. The northwest part of the galaxy has higher polarised emission than the rest of the galaxy. A bar appears in radio waves.{{cite journal |last1=Drzazga |first1=R. T. |last2=Chyży |first2=K. T. |last3=Jurusik |first3=W. |last4=Wiórkiewicz |first4=K. |title=Magnetic field evolution in interacting galaxies |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=19 August 2011 |volume=533 |pages=A22 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201016092|bibcode=2011A&A...533A..22D |arxiv=1107.3280 |s2cid=53558637 }}

The nucleus has activity that resembles that of a HII region.{{cite journal |last1=Ho |first1=Luis C. |last2=Filippenko |first2=Alexei V. |last3=Sargent |first3=Wallace L. W. |title=A Search for 'Dwarf' Seyfert Nuclei. III. Spectroscopic Parameters and Properties of the Host Galaxies |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |date=October 1997 |volume=112 |issue=2 |pages=315–390 |doi=10.1086/313041|bibcode=1997ApJS..112..315H |arxiv=astro-ph/9704107 |s2cid=17086638 }} The galaxy has been categorised as a luminous infrared galaxy, a category of galaxies associated with high star formation rate. The total infrared luminosity of the galaxy is estimated to be between {{val|e=11.04|ul=L_solar}}{{cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=D. B. |last2=Mazzarella |first2=J. M. |last3=Kim |first3=D.-C. |last4=Surace |first4=J. A. |last5=Soifer |first5=B. T. |title=The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=October 2003 |volume=126 |issue=4 |pages=1607–1664 |doi=10.1086/376841|bibcode=2003AJ....126.1607S |arxiv=astro-ph/0306263 |s2cid=14825701 }} and {{val|e=11.1|u=L_solar}}, lying near the threshold to classify a galaxy as luminous infrared. The total star formation rate in NGC 877 is estimated to be between 20 and 53 {{solar mass|link=yes}} per year.{{cite journal |last1=Pereira-Santaella |first1=Miguel |last2=Alonso-Herrero |first2=Almudena|author2-link=Almudena Alonso-Herrero |last3=Colina |first3=Luis |last4=Miralles-Caballero |first4=Daniel |last5=Pérez-González |first5=Pablo G. |last6=Arribas |first6=Santiago |last7=Bellocchi |first7=Enrica |last8=Cazzoli |first8=Sara |last9=Díaz-Santos |first9=Tanio |last10=López |first10=Javier Piqueras |title=Star-formation histories of local luminous infrared galaxies |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=6 May 2015 |volume=577 |pages=A78 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201425359|bibcode=2015A&A...577A..78P |arxiv=1502.07965 |s2cid=2997010 }}

One possible supernova has been observed in NGC 877, SN 2019rn. It was discovered by the robotic sky survey ATLAS on January 12.30, 2019, using a twin 0.5m telescope system. It had apparent magnitude 18.9 on discovery.{{cite web |title=ATel #12384: ATLAS19bdu (AT2019rn): discovery of a candidate SN in NGC 0877 (47 Mpc) |url=http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=12384 |website=ATel |date=13 January 2019}} The supernova was initially classified as a type II supernova with spectroscopic observations by Keck-II,{{cite web |title=ATel #12388: Spectroscopic classification of SN2019rn as a Type II supernova with Keck-II |url=http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=12388 |website=ATel |date=14 January 2019}} and further spectrographic observations categorised it as type IIb, although it could also be a cataclysmic variable or another type of variable star.{{cite web |title=ATel #12391: SCAT classification of optical transients |url=http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=12391 |website=ATel |date=15 January 2019}}

NGC 877 forms a pair with the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 876, which lies 2.1 arcminutes to the southwest. At the distance of NGC 877, this corresponds to a projected distance of 30 kpc. A low surface brightness bridge connects the two galaxies. NGC 870 and NGC 871 are two other nearby galaxies.{{cite journal |last1=Hattori |first1=T. |last2=Yoshida |first2=M. |last3=Ohtani |first3=H. |last4=Sugai |first4=H. |last5=Ishigaki |first5=T. |last6=Sasaki |first6=M. |last7=Hayashi |first7=T. |last8=Ozaki |first8=S. |last9=Ishii |first9=M. |last10=Kawai |first10=A. |title=A Study of the Distribution of Star-forming Regions in Luminous Infrared Galaxies by Means of H Imaging Observations |journal=The Astronomical Journal |date=February 2004 |volume=127 |issue=2 |pages=736–757 |doi=10.1086/381060|bibcode=2004AJ....127..736H |arxiv=astro-ph/0311179 |s2cid=18181421 }} NGC 877 is the brightest and most massive member of a galaxy group known as the NGC 877 group or LGG (Lyon Groups of Galaxies) 53. Other members of the group include NGC 876 and NGC 871, as well as UGC 1693, IC 1791, UGC 1773, and UGC 1817.{{cite journal |last1=Garcia, A. M. |title=General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series |date=1993 |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=47–90 |url=http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/ftp/J/A+AS/100/47/table2.dat |issn=0365-0138 |bibcode=1993A&AS..100...47G}} The group contains large amounts of HI gas.{{cite journal |last1=Lee-Waddell |author2-link=Kristine Spekkens |first1=K. |last2=Spekkens |first2=K. |last3=Cuillandre |first3=J.-C. |last4=Cannon |first4=J. |last5=Haynes |first5=M. P. |last6=Sick |first6=J. |last7=Chandra |first7=P. |last8=Patra |first8=N. |last9=Stierwalt |first9=S. |last10=Giovanelli |first10=R. |title=An extremely optically dim tidal feature in the gas-rich interacting galaxy group NGC 871/NGC 876/NGC 877 |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=1 October 2014 |volume=443 |issue=4 |pages=3601–3611 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stu1345|doi-access=free |bibcode=2014MNRAS.443.3601L |arxiv=1407.1732 |s2cid=119199197 }}

During the October 2050 lunar eclipse, a Total Lunar Eclipse, it will be occulted by the Moon over the southeast Pacific Ocean, South America and the Atlantic Ocean. This will happen again during the October 2069 lunar eclipse over the northern half of Asia and the Northwest Pacific.{{cite book |date=2002 |first=Jan |last=Meeus |chapter=Occultations of deep-sky objects during a total lunar eclipse |pages=157–162 |title=More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels |publisher=Willmann-Bell |isbn=0943396743 |url=https://falakmu.id/khgt/dokumen/More%20mathematical%20astronomy%20morsels%20(Jean%20Meeus)%20(Z-Library).pdf}}{{rp|161}}