Right ascension 00 07 15.84 Redshift 0.015177 ± 0.000002 Galactocentric velocity 4723 ± 7 km/s Constellation Pegasus | Declination +27° 42′ 29.1″ Helio radial velocity 4550 ± 1 km/s Magnitude 13.65 Apparent magnitude (V) 13.65 | |
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Distance 211 ± 14 Mly
(64.7 ± 4.5 Mpc) Similar NGC 2, NGC 3, NGC 5, NGC 8, NGC 7 | ||
NGC 1 is an intermediate spiral galaxy of the morphological type Sbc, located 210 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered on 30 September 1861 by Heinrich d'Arrest, who described it as "faint, small, round, between 11th and 14th magnitude stars" (to the north and south).
At about 140,000 light-years in diameter, NGC 1 is nearly the same size as our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but with an absolute magnitude of -22.08, NGC 1 is 2 to 3 times more luminous than it. Although the central galaxy is only about 90,000 light-years across, a large, diffuse arm extends eastwards from it, possibly from a past merger. The galaxy is 4.0 Mly away from the 80,000 light-year galaxy UGC 69, its nearest major neighbor. Although it is apparently quite close to NGC 2, NGC 2 is actually much further away, and unrelated to NGC 1.
It is the first object listed in the New General Catalogue. In the coordinates used at the time of the catalog's compilation (epoch 1860), this object had the lowest right ascension of all the objects in the catalog, making it the first object to be listed when the objects were arranged by right ascension. Since then, the coordinates have shifted, and this object no longer has the lowest right ascension of all the NGC objects.