[Sculptor Group Galaxies; AAO]

The Sculptor Group of Galaxies (also South Polar Group)

This is the closest group of galaxies to our Local Group, at only about 10 million light years distance. It is named the Sculptor Group as it is centered in the Southern constellation Sculptor, and South Polar Group as its members are grouped around the South galactic pole (which is at RA 00:51.4, Dec -27:07 (2000.0)).

The group is dominated by bright NGC 253, the Sculptor or Silver Coin Galaxy, one of the brightest galaxies beyong the Local Group in the skies. All the group's members are listed in the following:

(*) indicates membership according to Bryan Miller's research at Leiden University.

Moreover, NGC 45 and IC 5332 were once dealt as a possible member of this group of galaxies, but their larger redshift (504 km/s for NGC 45, and 706 km/s for IC 5332 compared to about 90-250 km/s for the larger member galaxies) indicates that these galaxies are more probably background objects.

The first evidence of intergalactic matter was discovered in the Sculptor group of galaxies in 1974, in intergalactic space between NGC 55 and NGC 300.

The photos displayed here were all taken with the 3.9-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope and are copyrighted © Anglo-Australian Observatory. For any but private usage of these images please contact the Photo Permissions Department (photo at aaoepp.aao.gov.au) of the Anglo-Australian Observatory. Astronomical data for the Sculptor Group galaxies:

Name       Con  RA (2000)  Dec  Type      m_v   dim        RV    Discoverer, Names, Remarks

E 407-G018 Scl 23:26.5 -32:23 IB(s)m p: 13.9 1.5x 1.2 + 62 Longmore et.al. (1978), UGCA 438, UKS 2323-326; LG? E 471-G006 Scl 23:43.8 -31:57 SB(s)m:sp 13.6 6.4x 0.9 +267 UGCA 442 NGC 7793 Scl 23:57.8 -32:35 Sdm 9.1 2.6x 1.9 +214 Dun 608, GC 6233 (GP Bond) SDIG Scl 00:08.2 -34:35 IBm 15.5 1.1x 0.9 +207 Lautsen et.al. (1977) NGC 55 Scl 00:14.9 -39:11 SBm: 8.2 32.4x 6.5 + 98 Dun 507, h 2315; LG? E 410-G005 Scl 00:15.5 -32:11 E3: 14.85 1.3x 1.0 E 294-G010 Phe 00:26.6 -41:51 dS0/Im 15.6 1.1x 0.7 +117 IC 1574 Cet 00:43.1 -22:15 IB(s)m 15.1 2.1x 0.8 +361 DDO 226, UGCA 9, D.S. 115 NGC 247 Cet 00:47.1 -20:46 S- IV 8.9 20.0x 7.4 +180: H V.20 NGC 253 Scl 00:47.6 -25:17 Scp 7.1 25.1x 7.4 +259 CH; H V.1 DDO 6 Cet 00:49.8 -21:01 IB(s)m 15.2 1.7x 0.7 +301 UGCA 15 NGC 300 Scl 00:54.9 -37:41 Sd III-IV 8.7p 20.0x14.8 + 97: Dun 530, h 2359 A 0143 Phe 01:45.1 -43:36 IB(s)m 12.7 3.6x 3.2 +395 ESO 245-G005, PGC 6430 NGC 625 Phe 01:35.1 -41:26 SBm: 12.3p 3.0x 1.3 +317 Dun 479, h 2426
Probable background galaxies:
NGC 45     Cet  00:14.1 -23:11  S- IV-V   10.4   8.1x 5.8  +508  h 2313
IC 5332    Scl  23:34.5 -36:06  Sd        10.6   6.6x 5.1  +706  Dun 546, Swift XI
References


Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: March 8, 1998