NGC 1316 (also known as Fornax A) is a lenticular galaxy about 60 million light-years (18.4 million parsecs) away in the constellation Fornax. It is a radio galaxy and at 1400 MHz is the fourth-brightest radio source in the sky.
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👉 NGC 1316 in the context of Fornax
Fornax (/ˈfɔːrnæks/) is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere, partly ringed by the celestial river Eridanus. Its name is Latin for furnace. It was named by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1756. Fornax is one of the 88 modern constellations.
The three brightest stars—Alpha, Beta and Nu Fornacis—form a flattened triangle facing south. With an apparent magnitude of 3.91, Alpha Fornacis is the brightest star in Fornax. Six star systems have been found to have exoplanets. The Fornax Dwarf galaxy is a small faint satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. NGC 1316 is a relatively close radio galaxy.
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NGC 1316 in the context of Fornax Cluster
The Fornax Cluster is a cluster of galaxies lying at a distance of 19 megaparsecs (62 million light-years). It has an estimated mass of (7±2)×10 solar masses, making it the second richest galaxy cluster within 100 million light-years, after the considerably larger Virgo Cluster. It may be associated with the nearby Eridanus Group. It lies primarily in the constellation Fornax, with its southern boundaries partially crossing into the constellation of Eridanus, and covers an area of sky about 6° across or about 28 sq degrees.
The Fornax Cluster is a particularly valuable source of information about the evolution of such clusters due to its relatively close proximity to the Sun. It also shows the gravitational effects of a merger of a galaxy subgroup with the main galaxy group, which in turn lends clues about the associated galactic superstructure. At the centre of the cluster lies NGC 1399. Other cluster members include NGC 1316 (the group's brightest galaxy), NGC 1365, NGC 1427A, NGC 1427 and NGC 1404.