NGC 8 is an asterism of two completely unrelated stars (spectral types K6I and G4) in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, discovered on 29 September 1865 by

Otto Wilhelm von Struve Otto Wilhelm von Struve (May 7, 1819 (Julian calendar: April 25) – April 14, 1905) was a Russian astronomer of Baltic German origins. In Russian, his name is normally given as Otto Vasil'evich Struve (Отто Васильевич Струве ...

. It is approximately 2.7 arc minutes away from

NGC 9 NGC 9 is a spiral galaxy about 140 million light-years away in the Pegasus constellation. It was discovered on 27 September 1865 by Otto Wilhelm von Struve Otto Wilhelm von Struve (May 7, 1819 (Julian calendar: April 25) – April 14, 1905) ...

. The two stars are completely unrelated to each other, with the whiter, dimmer star (

2MASS The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, or 2MASS, was an astronomical survey of the whole sky in infrared light. It took place between 1997 and 2001, in two different locations: at the U.S. Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, and ...

J00084563+2350186) being at a distance of light years, and the yellower, brighter star (2MASS J00084521+2350184) having a minimum distance of 215,000 light years. While both stars are technically outside the Milky Way's

galactic disc A galactic disc (or galactic disk) is a component of disc galaxies, such as spiral galaxies and lenticular galaxies. Galactic discs consist of a stellar component (composed of most of the galaxy's stars) and a gaseous component (mostly composed ...

, the nearer is light-years south of the 1,000-light-year-thick disc, and the further is not only at least 130,000 light-years south of the disk, but is located entirely outside the Milky Way itself, being at least 220,000 light-years from the galactic core.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 8 Double stars Pegasus (constellation) 0008 000648 J00084521+2350184 18650929 Discoveries by Otto Struve de:Liste der NGC-Objekte von 1 bis 500#Nr. 1 bis 100