NGC 3621

NGC 3621

NGC 3621 taken by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Hydra
Right ascension 11h 18m 16.52s[1]
Declination –32° 48′ 50.7″[1]
Redshift 0.002435 ± 0.000007[2]
Helio radial velocity +727[3] km/s
Distance 21.7 million light years (6.64 Mpc)[4]
Type SA(s)d[1]
Mass 2 × 1010[1] M☉
Apparent magnitude (V) 10.0

NGC 3621 is a spiral galaxy about 22[4] million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Snake). It is comparatively bright and can be well seen in moderate-sized telescopes. The galaxy is around 93,000 ly (29,000 pc) across and is inclined at an angle of 25° from being viewed edge on. It shines with a luminosity equal to 13 billion times that of the Sun.[5] The morphological classification is SA(s)d,[1] which indicates this is an ordinary spiral with loosely wound arms.[6] There is no evidence for a bulge.[7] Although it appears to be isolated,[6] NGC 3621 belongs to the Leo spur.[5]

This galaxy has an active nucleus that matches a Seyfert 2 optical spectrum, suggesting that a low mass supermassive black hole is present at the core. Based upon the motion of stars in the nucleus, this object may have a mass of up to three million times the mass of the Sun.[7]

Gallery

  1. ^ "A special spiral galaxy for over 200 000 Facebook fans". ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Bresolin, Fabio et al. (May 2012), "Gas Metallicities in the Extended Disks of NGC 1512 and NGC 3621. Chemical Signatures of Metal Mixing or Enriched Gas Accretion?", The Astronomical Journal 750 (2): 122, arXiv:1203.0956, Bibcode:2012ApJ...750..122B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/122.
  2. ↑ Koribalski, B. S. et al. (July 2004), "The 1000 Brightest HIPASS Galaxies: H I Properties", The Astronomical Journal 128 (1): 16–46, arXiv:astro-ph/0404436, Bibcode:2004AJ....128...16K, doi:10.1086/421744.
  3. ↑ Tully, R. Brent et al. (January 1995), "Recalibration of the H–0.5 magnitudes of spiral galaxies", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 96 (1): 123–157, arXiv:astro-ph/9405047, Bibcode:1995ApJS...96..123T, doi:10.1086/192115.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tully, R. Brent et al. (March 2008), "Our Peculiar Motion Away from the Local Void", The Astrophysical Journal 676 (1): 184–205, arXiv:0705.4139, Bibcode:2008ApJ...676..184T, doi:10.1086/527428.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 O'Meara, Stephen James (2013), Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems, Cambridge University Press, p. 203, ISBN 1107015014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Buta, Ronald J. et al. (2007), Atlas of Galaxies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 13–17, ISBN 0521820480.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Barth, Aaron J. et al. (January 2009), "Dynamical Constraints on the Masses of the Nuclear Star Cluster and Black Hole in the Late-Type Spiral Galaxy NGC 3621", The Astronomical Journal 690 (1): 1031–1044, arXiv:0809.1066, Bibcode:2009ApJ...690.1031B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/1/1031.

External links

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