IC 2006

IC 2006 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Eridanus. The galaxy was discovered on 3 October 1897 by the American astronomer Lewis A. Swift.[6] It is estimated to be around 60 to 70 million light years (20 megaparsecs) away,[2] in the Fornax Cluster.[3] The galaxy is one of the smaller in the Fornax cluster, with a diameter of only 35 000 light-years.

IC 2006
IC 2006, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationEridanus
Right ascension 03h 54m 28.427s[1]
Declination−35° 58′ 01.75″[1]
Redshift0.004610[2]
Helio radial velocity1382[2]
Distance65.36 ± 0.46 Mly (20.04 ± 0.14 Mpc)[3]
Group or clusterFornax Cluster[3]
Apparent magnitude (B)12.39[4]
Characteristics
TypeE1[5]
Size35 000 light-years in diameter
Apparent size (V)2.1′ × 1.8′[2]
Notable featuresEarly-type galaxy
Other designations
AM 0532-360, MGC-06-09-037, PGC 14077

IC 2006 is an early-type galaxy with a Hubble classification of E1,[5] but has also been listed as a lenticular galaxy with a morphological type of SA0−.[2] Despite their name, early-type galaxies are much older than spiral galaxies, and mostly comprise old, red-colored stars. Very little star formation occurs in these galaxies; the lack of star formation in elliptical galaxies appears to start at the center and then slowly propagates outward.[7] Its age is estimated to be 8.1 ± 1.7 billion years.[8]

An image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015 shows a characteristically smooth profile, with no spiral arms.[9] However, IC 2006 has a ring surrounding it. The ring appears to rotate in a direction opposite to the rest of the body, but this may be explained by a polar ring with an elliptical shape.[10]

References
  1. Skrutskie, M. (2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708.
  2. "NED results for object IC 2006". National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  3. Tully, R. Brent; et al. (2013). "Cosmicflows-2: The Data". The Astronomical Journal. 146 (4). arXiv:1307.7213. Bibcode:2013AJ....146...86T. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/146/4/86. Distances accessed using SIMBAD.
  4. "IC 2006". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  5. Trinchieri, G.; Rampazzo, R.; Mazzei, P.; Marino, A.; Wolter, A. (2015). "Investigating early-type galaxy evolution with a multiwavelength approach - I. X-ray properties of 12 galaxies observed with Swift and XMM-Newton". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 449 (3): 3021–3042. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.449.3021T. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv466.
  6. Seligman, Courtney. "Index Catalog objects: IC 2000 - 2049". cseligman.com. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  7. Howell, Elizabeth (2015). "Colossal Ancient Galaxies Die from the Inside Out". space.com. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  8. Panuzzo, P.; Rampazzo, R.; Bressan, A.; Vega, O.; Annibali, F.; Buson, L. M.; Clemens, M. S.; Zeilinger, W. W. (2011). "Nearby early-type galaxies with ionized gas. VI. The Spitzer-IRS view. Basic data set analysis and empirical spectral classification". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 528. arXiv:1010.2323. Bibcode:2011A&A...528A..10P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015908.
  9. "Elliptical galaxy IC 2006 | ESA/Hubble". www.spacetelescope.org. 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  10. Bertsik, P. P.; Kolesnik, I. G. (1992). "IC 2006 - an elliptical galaxy with a polar ring". Kinematika i Fizika Nebesnykh Tel. 8 (4): 92–96. Bibcode:1992KFNT....8...92B.
  • Media related to IC 2006 at Wikimedia Commons


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