NGC 986 is abarred spiral galaxy in the southernconstellation ofFornax, located about 76 million light-years away.[4][5] It was discovered on August 5, 1826, by the Scottish astronomerJames Dunlop, who described it as a "faint nebula, of an irregular round figure". The galaxy has an angular size of3′.8 × 1′.9 with avisual magnitude of 10.9. It belongs to theFornax Cluster of galaxies.[6] This galaxy has a nearby companion, NGC 986A, at anangular separation of17′, corresponding to a projected separation of110 kpc. The two appear unconnected.[5]
Themorphological class of NGC 986 is (R′1)SB(rs)b,[4] indicating this is a barred spiral (SB) with an outer pseudo-ring (R′1), an incomplete inner ring (rs), and moderately woundspiral arms (b). Thegalactic plane is inclined at an angle of 37° to the line of sight from the Earth. The resulting ellipsoidal profile has its major axis aligned along aposition angle of 127°.[4]
The nucleus of NGC 986 is undergoing intensestar formation[5] and there is anH II region at the core. The large central bar extends~14 kpc and is rich in dense gas.[4] The galaxy contains two large, extended and slightly warped arms that begin at each end of the central bar, forming an S-shape. There may be a tidally-disrupteddwarf galaxy at the end of its northern arm.[5]
^abcdefgKohno, Kotaro; et al. (June 2008). "ASTE CO(3-2) Observations of the Southern Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 986: a Large Gaseous Bar Filled with a Dense Molecular Medium".Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.60 (3):457–464.arXiv:0805.1491.Bibcode:2008PASJ...60..457K.doi:10.1093/pasj/60.3.457.
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