NGC 2008 | |
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Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Pictor |
Right ascension | 05h 35m 03s |
Declination | -50° 58’ 00” |
Distance | 425 million |
Apparent magnitude (B) | 14.64 |
Surface brightness | 23.27 mag/arcsec2 |
Other designations | |
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NGC 2008 is a distant spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pictor. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 10,367 ± 11 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 153 ± 11 Mpc (∼499 million ly).[1] NGC 2008 was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel in 1834. The luminosity class of NGC 2008 is III.[1]
To date, four non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 135.750 ± 10.521 Mpc (∼443 million ly), which is within the Hubble distance range. Note, however, that it is with the average value of independent measurements, when they exist, that the NASA/IPAC database[2] calculates the diameter of a galaxy and that consequently the diameter of NGC 2008 could be approximately 77 kpc (∼253,000 ly)[2] if we used the Hubble distance to calculate it.[2]
According to Soares and his colleagues, NGC 2007 and NGC 2008 form a pair of galaxies. However, the Hubble distance of NGC 2007 is 67.57 ± 4.73 Mpc (∼220 million ly). These two galaxies therefore form a purely optical pair.[3]