Field galaxy explained

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 5Mpc 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.

List of field galaxies

A list of nearby relatively bright field galaxies within the Local Volume, about 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on^[3]

Galaxy	Type	Size	Constellation	RA	DEC	Distance	Notes
NGC 404	SA(s)0		Andromeda			11.2Mly
NGC 1313	SB(s)d		Reticulum			12.89Mly	Nicknamed the "Topsy Turvy Galaxy" due to its uneven shape
NGC 2188	Sm		Columba			27.5Mly
NGC 2683	Sc		Lynx			32.9Mly
NGC 2903	SBbc		Leo			30.6Mly
NGC 3115	S0		Sextans			31.6Mly
NGC 3621	SA(s)d		Hydra			21.7Mly
NGC 4136	SABc		Coma Berenices			40.9Mly
NGC 4605	SB(s)c		Ursa Major			15.3Mly
NGC 5068	SAB(rs)cd		Virgo			19.8Mly
NGC 6503	SA(s)cd LINER	30kly	Draco			18.5Mly	Also called the "Lost-In-Space galaxy" due to its location next to the Local Void.	^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

See also

• Void galaxy

Further reading

• The Star Formation History of Field Galaxies . Piero Madau . Lucia Pozzetti . Mark Dickinson . 1998 . May 1998 . . 498 . 1 . 106–116 . astro-ph/9708220 . 1998ApJ...498..106M . 10.1086/305523 . 499769 . ^[7]
• The Ages of Disturbed Field Elliptical Galaxies. I. Global Properties . David R. Silva . Gregory D. Bothun . July 1998 . . 116 . 1 . 85 . 10.1086/300394 . 1998AJ....116...85S . free .
• The Ages of Disturbed Field Elliptical Galaxies. II. Central Properties . David R. Silva . Gregory D. Bothun . December 1998 . The Astronomical Journal . 116 . 6 . 2793 . 10.1086/300642 . 1998AJ....116.2793S . 47632172 . free .
• The Recent and Continuing Assembly of Field Ellipticals by Red Mergers . Pieter G. van Dokkum . 27 June 2005 . December 2005 . The Astronomical Journal . 130 . 6 . 2647–2665 . astro-ph/0506661 . 2005AJ....130.2647V . 10.1086/497593 . 250814170 . ^[8]
• Abundance of Field Galaxies . Anatoly Klypin . Igor Karachentsev . Dmitry Makarov . Olga Nasonova . 18 May 2014 . 1405.4523 . 10.1093/mnras/stv2040 . 454 . 2 . . 1798–1810. free . 2015MNRAS.454.1798K .

Notes and References

1. [Astronomische Nachrichten]
2. "An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology", David J. Adams and others
3. The structure of nearby groups of galaxies – Quantitative membership probabilities . Jürgen Materne . April 1979 . . 74 . 2 . 235–243 . 1979A&A....74..235M .
4. News: Lonely galaxy lost in space . 11 June 2015 . Space Daily .
5. Web site: NGC 6503 . NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database .
6. NGC 6503 . 26 February 2018 .
7. The Star Formation History of Field Galaxies . Piero Madau . Lucia Pozzetti . Mark Dickinson . 1998 . May 1998 . The Astrophysical Journal . 498 . 1 . 106–116 . astro-ph/9708220 . 1998ApJ...498..106M . 10.1086/305523 . 499769 .
8. The Recent and Continuing Assembly of Field Ellipticals by Red Mergers . Pieter G. van Dokkum . 27 June 2005 . December 2005 . The Astronomical Journal . 130 . 6 . 2647–2665 . astro-ph/0506661 . 2005AJ....130.2647V . 10.1086/497593 . 250814170 .