| NGC 2008 | |
| Epoch: | J2000 |
| Ra: | 05h 35m 03s |
| Dec: | -50° 58 00 |
| Constellation Name: | Pictor |
| Sbrightness: | 23.27 mag/arcsec2 |
| Appmag B: | 14.64 |
| Dist Ly: | 499 Mly (152.91 Mpc) |
| Names: | PGC 17480, ESO 204-20, AM 0533-505 |
| Z: | 0.034387 |
| Type: | Sc |
| Size: | 225,000 ly (estimated 68.91 kpc) |
| Size V: | 1.5' x 0.7' |
| H Radial V: | 10,309 km/s |
NGC 2008 is a distant spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pictor. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 10,367 ± 11 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 153 ± 11 Mpc (~499 million ly).[1] NGC 2008 was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel in 1834. The luminosity class of NGC 2008 is III with an apparent magnitude of 13.2.
NGC 2008 is classified as a type Sc galaxy with a small central budge structure and open spiral arms.[2] [3] [4]
To date, four non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 135.750 ± 10.521 Mpc (~443 million ly), which is within the Hubble distance range. Note, however, that it is with the average value of independent measurements, when they exist, that the NASA/IPAC database[5] calculates the diameter of a galaxy and that consequently the diameter of NGC 2008 could be approximately 77 kpc (~253,000 ly) if we used the Hubble distance to calculate it.[6]
According to Soares and his colleagues, NGC 2007 and NGC 2008 form a pair of galaxies. However, the Hubble distance of NGC 2007 is 67.57 ± 4.73 Mpc (~220 million ly). These two galaxies therefore form a purely optical pair.[7] [8]