Lesson plan

IC 335

IC 335 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy about 60 million light years (18 million parsecs) away, in the constellation Fornax. It is part of the Fornax Cluster. IC 335 appears very similar to NGC 4452, a lenticular galaxy in Virgo. Both galaxies are edge-on, meaning that their characteristics, like spiral arms, are hidden. Lenticular galaxies like these are thought to be intermediate between spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies, and like elliptical galaxies, they have very little gas for star formation. IC 335 may have once been a spiral galaxy that ran out of interstellar medium, or it may have collided with a galaxy in the past and thus used up all of its gas (see interacting galaxy).

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Article summary

IC 335 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy about 60 million light years (18 million parsecs) away, in the constellation Fornax. It is part of the Fornax Cluster. IC 335 appears very similar to NGC 4452, a lenticular galaxy in Virgo. Both galaxies are edge-on, meaning that their characteristics, like spiral arms, are hidden. Lenticular galaxies like these are thought to be intermediate between spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies, and like elliptical galaxies, they have very little gas for star formation. IC 335 may have once been a spiral galaxy that ran out of interstellar medium, or it may have collided with a galaxy in the past and thus used up all of its gas (see interacting galaxy).

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.