| NGC 959 | |
|---|---|
NGC 959 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Triangulum |
| Right ascension | 02h 32m 23.923s |
| Declination | +35° 29′ 40.46″ |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 596 km/s |
| Distance | 36 Mly (11.0 Mpc) |
| Group or cluster | NGC 1023 Group |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.38±0.14 |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 12.95±0.14 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Sdm: or SBcd |
| Mass | 6.3×108 (stellar) M☉ |
| Size | 21.8 kly (6.69 kpc) |
| Apparent size (V) | 2′.3 × 1′.4 (D25) |
| Other designations | |
| IRAS 02293+3516, NGC 959, UGC 2002, LEDA 9665, MCG +06-06-051, PGC 9665 | |
NGC 959 is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Triangulum. It was discovered on 9 November 1876 by French astronomer Édouard Stephan. This galaxy is located at a distance of 36 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 596 km/s. It is a member of the NGC 1023 Group of galaxies.
The morphological class of this galaxy is Sdm:, indicating it is a spiral (S) with disorganized, irregular arms and no central bulge (dm). The ':' suffix indicates some uncertainty about the classification. It has a visual magnitude of 12.4. The galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 50° to the plane of the sky, giving it an elliptical profile with the major axis aligned along a position angle of 65°. The size of the D25 ellipse (where the brightness of the galaxy drops to magnitude 25) is 2.3 × 1.4 arcminutes.
When images of NGC 959 are corrected for the effects of extinction from dust, a central bar feature can be discerned. The galaxy then shows a non-negligible bulge or central condensation, and may instead have a morphological type of SBcd. It displays a cuspy central density profile and bulge-like monotonic decrease in ellipticity toward the core.
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