astronomy

NGC 1367

NGC 1367 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NGC 1367 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 1367 or NGC 1371 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Fornax. The galaxy lies about 75 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 1367 is approximately 130,000 light years across.

Key takeaways

NGC 1367 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect NGC 1367 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 1367 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 1367 or NGC 1371 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Fornax. The galaxy lies about 75 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 1367 is approximately 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 17, 1784, and independently by Ormond Stone in 1886. It is a member of the Eridanus Cluster.

Characteristics The galaxy is seen inclined, at an angle of 47.5°. It has a bright bulge featuring a weak bar with ansae at its ends from where low surface brightness arms with no obvious knots emerge. H-alpha imaging shows the presence of HII regions in the arms and a circumnuclear ring, surrounding a central source. The galaxy has a faint outer ring. Star formation takes place in the outer arms of the galaxy while the bulge does not appear to be forming stars at a significant rate. The galaxy has a disk with X-ray emission, measuring 31 by 16 arcseconds, and faint diffuse X-ray emission extending beyond it. The inner disk emission could be due to supernova remnants, X-ray binary stars and strong stellar winds. Three individual X-ray sources are nearly coincident with individual HII regions. The galaxy has an extended hydrogen disk, with a diameter of 22.3 arcminutes. The total hydrogen I mass of the galaxy is estimated to be 109.95 M☉. When observed in radiowaves a kpc-scale linear jet like structure is revealed and a bright radio source. Observations by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder reveal double radio lobes and jets. The radio jets of this galaxy have half the extent of the inner stellar disk, lie slightly offset from the bar, and coincide with a hole in hydrogen emission. The radio emission excess indicates that the nucleus of the galaxy is active, belonging to the same class as NGC 3079 and Circinus Galaxy. The flux of the nuclear source observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory is consistent with a low luminosity AGN, like a Seyfert galaxy or LINER. In the centre of the galaxy is predicted to lie a supermassive black hole whose mass is estimated to be between 0.47 and 4.7 million solar masses, based on the spiral arm pitch angle, or 25 million solar masses based on the M–sigma relation.

Supernova

One supernova has been observed in NGC 1367, SN 2005ke. The supernova was discovered on 13 November 2005 by M. Baek, R. R. Prasad, and W. Li using the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope. The supernova had an apparent magnitude of 17.2 upon discovery. Its spectrum on 16 November indicated it was an underluminous Type Ia supernova before maximum. Observations in X-rays and ultraviolet indicate that the supernova shock wave interacted with the circumstellar medium, consisting of material deposited by the stellar winds of the progenitor system.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NGC 1367

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 1367 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NGC 1367 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NGC 1367 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NGC 1367

In research: NGC 1367 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses NGC 1367 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: NGC 1367 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Active galaxies, Astronomical objects discovered in 1784, Discoveries by William Herschel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 1367 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study NGC 1367 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 1367 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain NGC 1367 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 1367 in simple terms?

Why does NGC 1367 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NGC 1367?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NGC 1367.