Field galaxy

A field galaxy is a galaxy that does not belong to a larger galaxy group or cluster and hence is gravitationally alone.

Roughly 80% of all galaxies located within 5 Mpc (16 Mly) of the Milky Way are in groups or clusters of galaxies.[1] Most low-surface-brightness galaxies are field galaxies.[2] The median Hubble-type of field galaxies is Sb, a type of spiral galaxy.[3]

List of field galaxies

A list of nearby relatively bright field galaxies within the Local Volume, about 10 Mpc (33 Mly)[4]

Galaxy	Type	Size	Constellation	RA	DEC	Distance	Notes
NGC 404	SA(s)0		Andromeda	01^h 09^m 27.0^s	+35° 43′ 04″	11.2 Mly (3.4 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 1313	SB(s)d		Reticulum	03^h 18^m 15.4^s	−66° 29′ 50″	12.89 Mly (3.95 Mpc)	Nicknamed the "Topsy Turvy Galaxy" due to its uneven shape	[4]
NGC 2188	Sm		Columba	06^h 10^m 09.7^s	−34° 06′ 50″	27.5 Mly (8.4 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 2683	Sc		Lynx	08^h 52^m 41.3^s	+33° 25′ 18″	32.9 Mly (10.1 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 2903	SBbc		Leo	09^h 32^m 10.1^s	+21° 30′ 03″	30.6 Mly (9.4 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 3115	S0		Sextans	10^h 05^m 14.0^s	−7° 43′ 07″	31.6 Mly (9.7 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 3621	SA(s)d		Hydra	11^h 18^m 16.5^s	–32° 48′ 51″	21.7 Mly (6.7 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 4136	SABc		Coma Berenices	12^h 09^m 17.7^s	+29° 55′ 39″	40.9 Mly (12.5 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 4605	SB(s)c		Ursa Major	12^h 39^m 59.4^s	+61° 36′ 33″	15.3 Mly (4.7 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 5068	SAB(rs)cd		Virgo	13^h 18^m 54.8^s	−21° 02′ 21″	19.8 Mly (6.1 Mpc)		[4]
NGC 6503	SA(s)cd LINER	30 kly (9.2 kpc)	Draco	17^h 49^m 26.514^s	+70° 08′ 39.63″	18.5 Mly (5.7 Mpc)	Also called the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" due to its location next to the Local Void.	[4][5][6][7]

Further reading

• Piero Madau; Lucia Pozzetti; Mark Dickinson (1998). "The Star Formation History of Field Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal (published May 1998). 498 (1): 106–116. arXiv:astro-ph/9708220. Bibcode:1998ApJ...498..106M. doi:10.1086/305523.[8]
• David R. Silva; Gregory D. Bothun (July 1998). "The Ages of Disturbed Field Elliptical Galaxies. I. Global Properties". The Astronomical Journal. 116 (1): 85. Bibcode:1998AJ....116...85S. doi:10.1086/300394.
• David R. Silva; Gregory D. Bothun (December 1998). "The Ages of Disturbed Field Elliptical Galaxies. II. Central Properties". The Astronomical Journal. 116 (6): 2793. Bibcode:1998AJ....116.2793S. doi:10.1086/300642.
• Pieter G. van Dokkum (27 June 2005). "The Recent and Continuing Assembly of Field Ellipticals by Red Mergers". The Astronomical Journal (published December 2005). 130 (6): 2647–2665. arXiv:astro-ph/0506661. Bibcode:2005AJ....130.2647V. doi:10.1086/497593.[3]
• Anatoly Klypin; Igor Karachentsev; Dmitry Makarov; Olga Nasonova (18 May 2014). "Abundance of Field Galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 454 (2): 1798–1810. arXiv:1405.4523. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.454.1798K. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2040.

References

1. Astronomische Nachrichten, "On the Emptiness of Voids", K.-H. Schmidt; Petra Böhm; Hans Elsässer; vol. 318, no. 2, p. 81, Bibcode:1997AN....318...81S
2. "An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology", David J. Adams and others
3. Pieter G. van Dokkum (27 June 2005). "The Recent and Continuing Assembly of Field Ellipticals by Red Mergers". The Astronomical Journal (published December 2005). 130 (6): 2647–2665. arXiv:astro-ph/0506661. Bibcode:2005AJ....130.2647V. doi:10.1086/497593.
4. Jürgen Materne (April 1979). "The structure of nearby groups of galaxies – Quantitative membership probabilities". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 74 (2): 235–243. Bibcode:1979A&A....74..235M.
5. "Lonely galaxy lost in space". Space Daily. 11 June 2015.
6. "NGC 6503". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database.
7. "NGC 6503". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
8. Piero Madau; Lucia Pozzetti; Mark Dickinson (1998). "The Star Formation History of Field Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal (published May 1998). 498 (1): 106–116. arXiv:astro-ph/9708220. Bibcode:1998ApJ...498..106M. doi:10.1086/305523.