NGC 7314 is a spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on July 29, 1834.[9] This is a nearby Seyfert (active) galaxy, located at a distance of approximately 54.6 megalight-years from the Milky Way.[3] Since it appears to have detached spiral arm segments (either from dust lanes or bright star clusters), it was listed in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.[8]
NGC 7314 | |
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Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Piscis Austrinus |
Right ascension | 22h 35m 46.19699s[1] |
Declination | −26° 03′ 01.5740″[1] |
Redshift | 0.004743±0.000020[2] |
Heliocentric radial velocity | 1,427 km/s[3] |
Distance | 54.6 Mly (16.75 Mpc)[3] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.9[4] |
Apparent magnitude (B) | 11.6[3] |
Characteristics | |
Type | SAB(rs)bc[5] |
Apparent size (V) | 4′.37 × 1′.86[6] |
Other designations | |
NGC 7314[7], Arp 14[8], PGC 69253[6] |
Walter Scott Houston describes its appearance in small telescopes:[10]
Do not let its photographic magnitude of 11.6 scare you off, for it can be seen in a 6-inch telescope as a curiously fuzzy object. But it is small, appearing only 4' by 2'.
The morphological classification of this galaxy is SAB(rs)bc,[5] indicating a spiral galaxy with a weak central bar (SAB), an incomplete ring structure around the bar (rs), and moderately–wound arms (bc). The plane of the galactic disk is inclined by 64° to the line of sight from the Earth, with the major axis aligned along a position angle of 178°.[11] Within the galaxy's core is an active galactic nucleus tentatively classified as a type I Seyfert. The central supermassive black hole has a relatively low mass, estimated as (0.87±0.45)×106 M☉. The core is a source for X-ray emission that is seen to vary dramatically on time scales as low as hours.[5]