Facts about NGC 1277

1. 06

   X-ray observations detect extended hot gas surrounding NGC 1277, indicating the galaxy consumed smaller companions through repeated mergers over billions of years.

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2. 05

   Hubble Space Telescope imaging reveals NGC 1277 possesses an exceptionally compact and dense core with a stellar mass concentration within its central 1 kiloparsec that suggests a violent galactic merger in its distant past.

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3. 04

   Spectroscopic observations reveal NGC 1277 exhibits a kinematically decoupled core, where the inner regions rotate in the opposite direction to the galaxy's outer stellar disk.

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4. 03

   With a stellar mass of approximately 100 billion solar masses, NGC 1277 ranks among the most massive lenticular galaxies observed in the local universe.

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5. 02

   Located approximately 220 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus, NGC 1277 is a lenticular galaxy notable for its exceptionally high velocity dispersion of 350 kilometers per second.

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6. 01

   This ultramassive black hole in NGC 1277 contains approximately 17 billion solar masses, making it one of the most massive known.

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