IC 1657 (also known as IC 1663) is an active barred spiral galaxy with extended star-forming regions of the Hubble type SBbc in the constellation of Sculptor in the southern sky. It is estimated to be about 159 million light-years from the Milky Way and has a diameter of approximately 115,000 light-years.
In the same region of the sky lie, among others, the galaxies NGC 427, NGC 439, and NGC 441.
The object was discovered on 4 September 1897 by Lewis Swift.Seligman
Supernovae Two supernovae have been observed in IC 1657: SN 2012hd (TypeIa, mag. 16.4) was discovered by Stu Parker on 20 November 2012. SN 2016gfk (Type Ia, mag. 17) was discovered by Stu Parker on 11 September 2016.
References NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
SEDS: IC 1657
External links SIMBAD Astronomical Database