Facts about IC 1101

1. 08

   IC 1101's core contains a supermassive black hole estimated at 100 billion solar masses, roughly 2,500 times more massive than Sagittarius A* at the Milky Way's center.

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2. 07

   At approximately 1 billion light-years distant, IC 1101 resides in the Serpens constellation and required the Hubble Space Telescope to accurately measure its unprecedented galactic dimensions.

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3. 06

   The luminosity of IC 1101 reaches approximately 100 trillion times that of our Sun, making it one of the brightest galaxies ever observed.

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4. 05

   IC 1101's formation likely resulted from the merger of multiple smaller galaxies over billions of years, creating its unusually diffuse and extended structure.

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5. 04

   Astronomers discovered IC 1101 in 1790, but its true colossal scale remained unknown until advanced telescopes in the late 20th century revealed its unprecedented size.

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6. 03

   IC 1101's halo extends roughly 2 million light-years from its core, making it the most extended galactic structure ever observed.

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7. 02

   An estimated one trillion stars populate IC 1101, making it home to more stars than all galaxies in the observable universe combined.

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8. 01

   Spanning approximately 4 million light-years across, IC 1101 is the largest known galaxy, dwarfing the Milky Way by roughly 50 times in diameter.

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