Galaxy NGC 1087 is classified as a Barred Spiral. However it has many strange features and its true nature is still uncertain. It has an extremely small nucleus and a very short stellar bar. Unlike most barred galaxies, the bar apparently has some new star-formation taking place. There is a multiple spiral structure defined more by the dust lanes than by luminous matter. Overall, the disc has a very low surface brightness. Even though it appears close to another galaxy (NGC 1090), Blackman (1980) found that NGC 1087 is not interacting and should be considered isolated. It lies near the small M-77 (NGC 1068) galaxy group that also includes NGC 936, NGC 1055, and NGC 1090. However, because of its distance, it probably is not an actual group member. Based on the published red shift, (Hubble Constant of 62 Km/sec per Mpc) a rough distance estimate for NGC 1087 is 80 million light years, with a diameter of about 86,800 light years.
Dreyer's description from the New General Catalog(NGC): Pretty bright, considerably large, little extended, much brighter middle.
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George Normandin, KAS
December 1st, 2001