NGC 1052 shows also two small
jets emerging from its nucleus as well as a very extended disc of
neutral hydrogen, far larger than the galaxy itself.[7] Additionally, the stars and the ionized gas rotate along different axes.[8] All these features suggesting a gas-rich galaxy
collided and merged with it 1 billion years ago producing all the above features.[6]
The shape of NGC 1052 is thought to be a
triaxial ellipsoid. The longest axis of the ellipsoid is probably aligned at a position angle of −41°, which is the axis around which the ionized gas would be rotating.[8]
A scale image of NGC 1052 and its satellite galaxies is available at the reference.[9]
Central black hole
NGC 1052 hosts a rapidly rotating
supermassive black hole with a mass of 154 million
M☉[10] with a large magnetic field of between 0.02 and 8.3
Tesla, which, according to
PhD student Anne-Kathrin Baczko, the leader of the team that made this discovery, provides enough magnetic energy to power the previously mentioned twin relativistic jets.[11]
The location of this black hole is the most precisely known in the universe, with the exception of
Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole found at the heart of our own galaxy.[11]
See also
NGC 1052-DF2, a galaxy assumed to be associated with NGC 1052, and which appears to have little or no
dark matter
NGC 1052-DF4, another galaxy assumed to be associated with NGC 1052, and which appears to have little or no
dark matter[12]
^J. L. Tonry; A. Dressler; J.P. Blakeslee; E.A. Ajhar; A.B. Fletcher; G. A. Luppino; M. R. Metzger; C.B. Moore (2001). "The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances". Astrophysical Journal. 546 (2): 681–693.
arXiv:astro-ph/0011223.
Bibcode:
2001ApJ...546..681T.
doi:
10.1086/318301.
S2CID17628238.
^
abFernández-Ontiveros, J.A.; López-Sanjuan, C.; Montes, M.; Prieto, M. A.; Acosta-Pulido, J.A. (2011). "The most recent burst of star formation in the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 1052". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters. 411 (1): L21–L25.
arXiv:1011.2498.
Bibcode:
2011MNRAS.411L..21F.
doi:
10.1111/j.1745-3933.2010.00985.x.
S2CID119232954.
^Brenneman, L. W.; Weaver, K. A.; Kadler, M.; Tueller, J.; Marscher, A.; Ros, E.; Zensus, A.; Kovalev, Y.Y.; Aller, M.; Aller, H.; Irwin, J.; Kerp, J.; Kaufmann, S. (2009). "Spectral analysis of the accretion flow in NGC 1052 with Suzaku". The Astrophysical Journal. 698 (1): 528–540.
arXiv:0903.3583.
Bibcode:
2009ApJ...698..528B.
doi:
10.1088/0004-637X/698/1/528.
S2CID464273.