In the late 1970s, François Schweizer studied NGC 1316 extensively and found that the galaxy appeared to look like an
elliptical galaxy with some unusual
dust lanes embedded within a much larger
envelope of stars. The outer envelope contained many ripples, loops, and arcs. He also identified the presence of a compact disk of gas near the
center that appeared inclined relative to the stars and that appeared to rotate faster than the stars (the mass-to-light ratio run in the center of NGC 1316 resembles that of many other giant ellipticals). Based on these results, Schweizer considered that NGC 1316 was built up through the merger of several smaller galaxies. Such merger events may have fueled the central
supermassive black hole, that has a mass estimated in 130–150 million
solar masses with gas, causing the galaxy to become a
radio galaxy. He also states that NGC 1316 is comparable to the giant elliptical galaxies found in the centers of other
clusters of galaxies. Using spectroscopy of its brightest
globular clusters, the merger is estimated to have occurred ~3 billion years ago. NGC 1316 spans about 50 000 light-years. It has been proposed too that NGC 1316 may be a galaxy in evolution that eventually will become a
Sombrero-like system dominated by a large
bulge. ==Companions and environment==