NGC 1427A - AN LMC TYPE GALAXY IN THE FORNAX CLUSTER

We have discovered that the Fornax irregular galaxy NGC 1427A is in ve ry many respects a twin of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Based on B, V, I, and Her images, we find the following. The light of the galaxy is d ominated by high surface brightness regions in the south-west that are superimposed by a half-ring of OB associations and HII regions indica ting recent star formation. The colors of the main stellar body are (V - I) = 0.8 mag and (B - V) = 0.4 mag, comparable to the LMC colors. A low surface brightness cloud north of the main body as well as a LSB tail in the west have colors (V - I similar or equal to 0.2 mag) that are more typical for blue compact dwarf galaxies. We identified a syst em of cluster candidates with mean ages less than or equal to 2 Gyr (a ssuming a LMC metallicity) comprising the richest cluster system in an irregular galaxy observed up to now outside the Local Group. In X-ray wavelengths NGC 1427A appears with a relatively soft and complex spec trum.