Sculptor Group


The Sculptor Group is a loose group of galaxies visible near the south galactic pole. The group is one of the closest groups of galaxies to the Local Group; the distance to the center of the group from the Milky Way is approximately.
The Sculptor Galaxy and a few other galaxies form a gravitationally-bound core in the center of this group. A few other galaxies at the periphery may be associated with the group but may not be gravitationally bound. Because most of the galaxies in this group are actually weakly gravitationally bound, the group may also be described as a filament. It is considered to be at an early stage of evolution in which galaxies are still falling into the group along filamentary structures.

Members

The table below lists galaxies that have been identified as associated with the Sculptor Galaxy by I. D. Karachentsev and collaborators.
NameTypeR.A. Dec. Redshift Apparent Magnitude
IC 1574IMm363 ± 415.1
NGC 59SA0362 ± 1013.1
NGC 247SABd156 ± 29.9
NGC 625SBm396 ± 111.7
NGC 7793SAd227 ± 210.0
PGC 2881IABm16.5
PGC 2933IABm pec16.6
PGC 6430IBm391 ± 212.7
Sculptor-dE1dE16.9
Sculptor Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
IBm221 ± 615.5
Sculptor Galaxy
SABc243 ± 28.0
UGCA 15IBm295 ± 015.2
UGCA 442SBm267 ± 213.6

The object names used in the above table differ from the names used by Karachentsev and collaborators. NGC, IC, UGC, and PGC numbers have been used when possible to allow for easier referencing.

Field galaxies

The irregular galaxy NGC 55, the spiral galaxy NGC 300, and their companion galaxies have been considered by many researchers to be part of this group. However, recent distance measurements to these and other galaxies in the same region of the sky show that NGC 55, NGC 300, and their companions may simply be foreground galaxies that are physically unassociated with the Sculptor Group. The galaxies NGC 24 and NGC 45 are located in the vicinity of the Sculptor Group, but are now considered background objects.