NGC 2608

NGC 2608
NGC 2608 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Cancer
Right ascension	08h 35m 17.3294s [1]
Declination	+28° 28′ 24.294″ [1]
Redshift	0.007192±0.000009 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	2,156±3 km/s [1]
Distance	93.0  Mly (28.5  Mpc) [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)	13.01 [1]
Characteristics
Type	SB(s)b [1]
Size	~59,300  ly (18.18  kpc) (estimated) [1]
Apparent size  (V)	2.3′ × 1.4′ [1]
Other designations
IRAS 08322+2838, Arp 12, UGC 4484, MCG +05-20-027, PGC 24111, CGCG 149-055 [1]

NGC 2608 (also known as Arp 12) is a barred spiral galaxy located 93 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer (the Crab). It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 12 March 1785. ^[3] It spans 62,000 light-years, approximately 60% of the Milky Way's diameter. It is considered a grand design spiral galaxy and is classified as SB(s)b, meaning that the galaxy's arms wind moderately (neither tightly nor loosely) around the prominent central bar.

It was classified under "galaxies with split arms" in the 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies by Halton Arp, who noted that the "nucleus may be double or superimposed star". ^[4] NGC 2608 is now thought to be a pair of interacting galaxies. ^[5]

Supernovae

• SN 1920A was discovered on 8 February 1920, with an apparent magnitude of 12.9, by German astronomer Max Wolf (1863–1932). ^[6] It reached peak brightness on 15 February 1920 at magnitude 12.05. ^[7] Its visual magnitude implies an overluminous bolometric magnitude; SN 1920A has since been classified as anomalous and is believed to be the result of "a completely different explosion mechanism." ^[8]

• SN 2001bg was discovered on 9 May 2001 (May 8.943 UT) by noted supernova hunter Tom Boles ^[9] of Coddenham, Suffolk, England, with a 0.36 m Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. ^[10] When first observed, it had an apparent magnitude of 14; it later peaked at around 13.7. ^[11] Its spectrum indicates that it is a typical Type Ia supernova. ^[12]

See also

• List of NGC objects (2001-3000)

References

1. "Results for NGC 2608". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. NASA and Caltech . Retrieved 7 Dec 2008.
2. Seigar, Marc S. (Jul 2005). "The connection between shear and star formation in spiral galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters . 361 (1): L20 –L24. arXiv: astro-ph/0504529 . Bibcode:2005MNRAS.361L..20S. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2005.00056.x . S2CID   14616885.
3. Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue Objects: NGC 2608". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
4. Halton Arp (November 1966). "Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies". Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 14: 1. Bibcode:1966ApJS...14....1A. doi:10.1086/190147.
5. "NGC 2608". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 8 December 2008.
6. Wolf, Max (1920). "Nova oder Variabilis 3.1920 Cancre". Astronomische Nachrichten. 210: 373. Bibcode:1920AN....210..373W. doi:10.1002/asna.19202102106.
7. Baade, Walter (1938). "The Absolute Photographic Magnitude of Supernovae". Astrophysical Journal. 88: 285. Bibcode:1938ApJ....88..285B. doi:10.1086/143983.
8. Schaefer, Bradley E.; Girard, Terrence M.; arjun (2000). "Weird Supernovae: Superluminous, Superfast and Superfaint Examples". Anni Mirabiles, A Symposium Celebrating the 90th Birthday of Dorrit Hoffleit Held 7–8 March 1997 at Yale University, New Haven, CT.: 69–70. Bibcode:1999anmi.conf...69S.
9. Tom Boles
10. Hurst, G. M.; Boles, T.; Kerner, H. (2001). "Supernova 2001bg in NGC 2608". International Astronomical Union Circular (7621): 1. Bibcode:2001IAUC.7621....1H.
11. "2001 Annual Report". Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams. 2002. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
12. Gal-Yam, A.; Shemmer, O.; Dann, J. (2001). "Supernova 2001bg in NGC 2608". International Astronomical Union Circular. 7622: 2. Bibcode:2001IAUC.7622....2G.

External links

• NGC 2608 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images