NGC-1277

FAIL2 FAIL3 

Type

Supermassive

Location

In the constellation Perseus

Distance

220 million light-years (67 megaparsecs)

Mass

17 billion times the mass of the Sun

Size

Diameter more than 11 times the diameter of the orbit of Neptune, the most distant planet in our solar system

Discovery Methods

A Hubble Space Telescope view of NGC 1277, which clearly shows the galaxy’s lens shape. [NASA/STScI]

This document was last modified: November 28, 2012.