astronomy

NGC 1387

NGC 1387 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 1387 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 1387 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, in the Fornax Cluster. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 25, 1835.

Key takeaways

NGC 1387 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 1387 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 1387 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 1387 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, in the Fornax Cluster. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 25, 1835. At a distance of 53 million light-years, it is one of the closer members of the Fornax Cluster. It has a magnitude of 10.8, which makes NGC 1387 one of the brighter galaxies in the Fornax Cluster and it is 60 000 light-years across. It is only 12 arcminutes from the central galaxy NGC 1399, which makes it one of the closest galaxies to NGC 1399. NGC 1387 is an early-type galaxy with a Hubble classification of (R')SAB(s)0. It has a clear, normal-looking non-ansae type bar embedded in a very extensive envelope, which is structureless except for the bar. Observations in 2006 discovered a large nuclear ring around NGC 1387, in a bulge-subtracted 2.2 micron image. Despite their name, early-type galaxies are much older than spiral galaxies, and mostly comprise old, red-colored stars. Very little star formation occurs in these galaxies; the lack of star formation in elliptical galaxies appears to start at the center and then slowly propagates outward. This is an early-type lenticular galaxy, with similar nature to early-type elliptical galaxies. NGC 1387 is rich with globular clusters, with an estimated number of clusters of 390 ± 27. However, unlike similar galaxies NGC 1374 and NGC 1379, which have an almost equal number of blue and red globular clusters, NGC 1387's globular cluster system is mostly composed of red globular clusters, with only a small fraction of blue globular clusters. This may be caused by gravitational interactions with the massive central galaxy NGC 1399, which probably stripped off most of the globular clusters from NGC 1387. The globular clusters of NGC 1387, like globulars in NGC 1379 and NGC 1374, did not show any evidence of multiple populations.

References

External links Media related to NGC 1387 at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NGC 1387

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 1387 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 1387 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 1387 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 1387

In research: NGC 1387 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 1387 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 1387 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Elliptical galaxies, Fornax, Fornax Cluster, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 1387 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 1387 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 1387 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 1387 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 1387 in simple terms?

NGC 1387 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, in the Fornax Cluster. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 25, 1835.

Why does NGC 1387 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 1387?

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 1387.