NGC 178

NGC 178 is a Magellanic spiral^[5] galaxy in the constellation of Cetus. The compiler of the New General Catalogue, John Louis Emil Dreyer noted that NGC 178 was "faint, small, much extended 0°, brighter middle". It was discovered on November 3, 1885, by Ormond Stone.^[4]

NGC 178
HST image of NGC 178
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Cetus
Right ascension	00h 39m 08.392s[1]
Declination	−14° 10′ 22.25″[1]
Redshift	0.004863[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity	1454.4 km/s[2]
Distance	67 Mly (20.6 Mpc)[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)	12.6[4]
Apparent magnitude (B)	13.6[2]
Characteristics
Type	SB(s)m[5]
Size	25 to 30 kly[4]
Apparent size (V)	1.85′ × 0.85′[4]
Other designations
IC 39, MCG -02-02-078, PGC 2349[2]

Due to its high rate of star formation NGC 178 is a starburst galaxy.^[4] It is forming new stars at a rate of 0.55 M_☉ per year.^[3] The peculiar morphology of this galaxy may be a sign of it being a galaxy merger.^[6]

See also

• Spiral galaxy
• List of NGC objects (1–1000)