The core of the nearby S0 galaxy NGC 7457 imaged with the HST planetary camera

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/185954· OSTI ID:5867005

Lauer, T R; Faber, S M; Holtzman, J A; Baum, W A; Currie, D G; Ewald, S P; Groth, E J; Hester, J J; Kelsall, T ^[1]

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1. Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ (USA) Lick Observatory, Santa Cruz, CA (USA) Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ (USA) Washington Univ., Seattle (USA) Maryland Univ., College Park (USA) Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (USA) Princeton Univ., NJ (USA) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (USA) NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (USA)

A brief analysis is presented of images of the nearby S0 galaxy NGC 7457 obtained with the HST Planetary Camera. While the galaxy remains unresolved with the HST, the images reveal that any core most likely has r(c) less than 0.052 arcsec. The light distribution is consistent with a gamma = -1.0 power law inward to the resolution limit, with a possible stellar nucleus with luminosity of 10 million solar. This result represents the first observation outside the Local Group of a galaxy nucleus at this spatial resolution, and it suggests that such small, high surface brightness cores may be common. 20 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5867005
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Vol. 369; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
GALAXY NUCLEI
IMAGES
CALIBRATION
CAMERAS
IMAGE PROCESSING
LUMINOSITY
MORPHOLOGY
PHOTOMETRY
SATELLITES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
SPIRAL CONFIGURATION
CONFIGURATION
DISTRIBUTION
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
640105* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Galaxies