Malin 1

Malin 1
An artist's rendering of Malin 1, with additional details.
Observation data (J2000.0[1] epoch)
Constellation Coma Berenices[2]
Right ascension 12h 36m 59.350s[1]
Declination +14° 19′ 49.32″[1]
Redshift 0.082557±0.000033[3]
Helio radial velocity 24750±10 km/s[3]
Galactocentric velocity 24707±10 km/s[3]
Distance 1.19 Gly (366 Mpc) h−1
0.73[3]
Apparent magnitude (V) 15.809±0.009[3]
Absolute magnitude (V) −22.01±0.50[3]
Characteristics
Type SB0a [1]
Mass ~1012[4] M☉
Size 650 kly (200 kpc)[5][6][7]
Apparent size (V) 0.219′ × 0.204′[2]
Other designations
PGC 42102, LEDA 42102, 2MASX J12365934+1419494[1]

Malin 1 is a giant low surface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxy.[1][8] It is located 1.19 billion light-years (366 Mpc) away in the constellation Coma Berenices, near the North Galactic Pole. It is one of the largest known spiral galaxies, with an approximate diameter of 650,000 light-years (200,000 pc),[5][6][7] six and a half times the diameter of our Milky Way. It was discovered by astronomer David Malin in 1986 and is the first LSB galaxy verified to exist.[8][7][5] Its high surface brightness central spiral is 30,000 light-years (9,200 pc) across, with a bulge of 10,000 light-years (3,100 pc).[5] The central spiral is a SB0a type barred-spiral.[5]

Malin 1 is peculiar in several ways: its diameter alone would make it the largest barred spiral galaxy ever to have been observed.[4]

Malin 1 was found later to be interacting with two other galaxies, Malin 1B and SDSS J123708.91+142253.2. Malin 1B is located 46,000 light-years (14,000 pc) away from the high surface brightness central spiral of Malin 1, which may be responsible for the formation of the galaxy's central bar. Meanwhile, SDSS J123708.91+142253.2 is located within the huge, faint halo of Malin 1 and might have caused the formation of the extended low surface brightness disc through tidal stripping.

Observations by Galaz, et al., in April 2014 revealed a detailed view of the spiral structure of Malin 1 in optical bands. The galaxy exhibits giant and very faint spiral arms, with a thickness of up to one-third the diameter of the Milky Way. Other details, such as possible stellar streams and formation regions, are revealed as well.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "2MASX J12365934+1419494". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. 1 2 "PGC 42102". WikiSky. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Detailed Information for Object Malin 1". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Barth, Aaron J. (March 2007). "A Normal Stellar Disk in the Galaxy Malin 1". The Astronomical Journal. 133 (3): 1085–1091. arXiv:astro-ph/0701018. Bibcode:2007AJ....133.1085B. doi:10.1086/511180.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Crosswell, Ken (22 January 2007). "Malin 1: A Bizarre Galaxy Gets Slightly Less So". KenCroswell.com.
  6. 1 2 Dorminey, Bruce (22 December 2013). "Astronomers Still Puzzle Over 'Low Surface Brightness' Galaxies". Forbes. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Glenday, Craig, ed. (2011). Guinness World Records 2011. New York: Random House. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-440-42310-2.
  8. 1 2 Bothun, Gregory D. (February 1997). "The Ghostliest Galaxies". Scientific American. 276 (2): 56–61. Bibcode:1997SciAm.276b..40B. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0297-56. JSTOR 24993608.
  9. ↑ Galaz, Gaspar; Milovic, Carlos; Suc, Vincent; Busta, Luis; Lizana, Guadalupe; et al. (December 2015). "Deep Optical Images of Malin 1 Reveal New Features". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 815 (2). L29. arXiv:1512.01095. Bibcode:2015ApJ...815L..29G. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/815/2/L29.
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