NGC 709 facts for kids
NGC 709 is a cool lenticular galaxy that you can find in the Andromeda constellation. It's super far away, about 166 million light-years from our own home galaxy, the Milky Way. Imagine how long it takes light from NGC 709 to reach us!
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What is NGC 709?
NGC 709 is a galaxy, which is a huge group of stars, gas, and dust all held together by gravity. It's named "NGC 709" because it's listed in a special catalog called the New General Catalogue (NGC). This catalog helps astronomers keep track of all the amazing objects they discover in space.
What is a Lenticular Galaxy?
NGC 709 is a special type of galaxy called a lenticular galaxy. The word "lenticular" sounds fancy, but it just means it looks like a lens! Imagine a spiral galaxy (like our Milky Way) that has lost most of its spiral arms. That's kind of what a lenticular galaxy looks like. They have a bright bulge in the middle, like a big ball of stars, and a flat disk around it, but they don't have those pretty, swirling arms you see in spiral galaxies.
- Lenticular galaxies are often thought of as being in between spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.
- They usually have very little gas and dust, which means they don't form many new stars anymore. Most of their stars are older.
Where is the Andromeda Constellation?
NGC 709 is located in the Andromeda constellation. A constellation is a group of stars that people on Earth imagine form a picture or pattern in the night sky. The Andromeda constellation is named after a princess from an ancient Greek story. It's one of the most famous constellations because it's home to the Andromeda Galaxy, which is the closest large galaxy to our Milky Way. While NGC 709 is in the same direction, it's much, much farther away than the Andromeda Galaxy itself.
How Far Away is NGC 709?
When we say NGC 709 is 166 million light-years away, it's hard to imagine such a huge distance!
- A light-year is the distance that light travels in one whole year. Light is the fastest thing we know, zooming at about 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second!
- So, 166 million light-years means that the light we see from NGC 709 today actually left that galaxy 166 million years ago. It's like looking back in time!
- This distance tells us just how incredibly vast the universe is.
Discovery of NGC 709
NGC 709 was discovered by an astronomer named Bindon Blood Stoney in 1850. Astronomers like him used telescopes to scan the night sky and find new objects. It's amazing to think that people were discovering galaxies like NGC 709 so long ago, even without the super powerful telescopes we have today!
