NGC 47 (also known as NGC 58, MCG -1-1-55, IRAS00119-0726 and PGC 967) is a

barred spiral galaxy A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral galaxy with a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars. Bars are found in about two thirds of all spiral galaxies, and generally affect both the motions of stars and interstellar gas within spiral galaxies ...

in the constellation

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related constellat ...

, discovered in 1886 by

Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel (4 December 1821 – 16 March 1889), normally known as Wilhelm Tempel, was a German astronomer who worked in Marseille until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, then later moved to Italy. Tempel was ...

. Its alternate name NGC 58 is due to the observation by

Lewis Swift Lewis A. Swift (February 29, 1820 – January 5, 1913) was an American astronomer who discovered 13 comets and 1,248 previously uncatalogued nebulae. Only William Herschel discovered more nebulae visually. Discoveries Swift discovered or co-discov ...

, who was unaware that Tempel had already discovered the celestial object earlier. It appears as a small, faint spiral nebula with a bright core and is slightly oval. It is approximately 236 Mly (236 million light years) from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, measured by way of a generic "redshift estimate".

References

External links

*
SEDS: Spiral Galaxy NGC 47
* {{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 0047 Barred spiral galaxies Cetus (constellation) 0047 00967 18861021 Discoveries by Lewis Swift Discoveries by Wilhelm Tempel