NGC 78

NGC 78 is a pair of galaxies in the constellation Pisces.^[2] NGC 78A, which is the more southern galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy.^[2] NGC 78B, which is the more northern galaxy, is an elliptical galaxy.^[4] Although the designations NGC 78A and 78B are used today, the designation NGC 78 was formerly used mainly for the northern galaxy.^[5]

NGC 78
SDSS image of NGC 78A (bottom right) and 78B (top left)
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Pisces
Right ascension	00h 20m 27.482s[1]
Declination	+00° 50′ 00.96″[1]
Redshift	0.018283[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity	5079 km/s[2]
Apparent magnitude (B)	14.5[3]
Characteristics
Type	SB0/a?(r)[2]
Size	84,100 ly (25,790 pc)[2][note 1]
Apparent size (V)	1.3′ × 0.897′[2][note 1]
Other designations
NGC 78A: UGC 193, MGC+00-02-004, PGC 1306[3] NGC 78B: UGC 194, MGC+00-02-005, PGC 1309[4]

Discovery

NGC 78 was discovered no later than 1876 by Carl Frederick Pechüle.^[5] It was described as "very faint, small, round" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.^[5] Because the two galaxies have different recessional velocities, the two galaxies are most likely not interacting.^[5]