Irregular Galaxy NGC 3077

The picture on the left is a 10 minute exposure with an ST-6 CCD camera thru Kopernik's 20-inch F/8.1 Ritchey Chretien Cassegrain telescope. The field of view is about 5x7 arc minutes. The image on the right is a Hubble Space Telescope image taken thru a narrow band V (visual) filter than shows only the central portion of the galaxy.

Irregular Galaxy NGC 3077:

While this galaxy at first appears to be a typical elliptical galaxy, a closer examination of the image reveals several dark lanes extending from the non-uniform nucleus. The galaxy is one of the members of the M-81 group, and it is more akin to disturbed galaxy M-82 than it is to an elliptical. This is probably another group member disrupted by the gravitational force of giant spiral galaxy M-81, and as a result, it is a site of intense star formation. Supernovae have blown giant bubbles in the gas of the galaxy that can be seen as dark voids in the images above.

Dreyer's description from the New General Catalog(NGC): "Considerably bright, considerably large, much brighter middle, round, with ray."

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• NGC 3077
• Magnitude: 10.8
• Constellation: Ursa Major
• RA: 10h 03m 18.0s
• Dec: +68° 44' 00" Epoch 2000
• Size (mins): 5.3' x 4.4'
• Classification: IO pec
                          Irregular Galaxy, peculiar
  
  

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George Normandin, KAS

January 20th, 2002