NGC 2985

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NGC 2985
A Beautiful Whorl NGC 2985.tif
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Ursa Major
Right ascension 09h 50m 22.2s [2]
Declination +72° 16 43 [2]
Redshift 0.004410 ± 0.0000237 [2]
Helio radial velocity 1,322 ± 7 km/s [2]
Distance 70.1 ± 4.1 Mly (21.5 ± 1.3 Mpc) [2]
Apparent magnitude  (V)10.4 [3]
Characteristics
Type (R')SA(rs)ab [2]
Apparent size  (V)4.6 × 3.6 [2]
Other designations
UGC 5253, CGCG 332-067, MCG +12-10-006, PGC 28316 [2]

NGC 2985 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 70 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 2985 is about 95,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 3, 1785. [4]

The galaxy is seen with an inclination of 37 degrees. [5] The galaxy has a bright nucleus from which emanate multiple tightly wound spiral fragments. [6] Numerous blue knots are visible at the galactic disk. At the outer part of the galaxy lies a massive spiral arm that forms a pseudoring that encircles the galaxy. The inner part of the galaxy, where active star formation has been observed, has been found to be unstable, contrary to the outer stable one. It has been suggested that the presence of molecular clouds accounts for the instability of the region. [5]

The nucleus of NGC 2985 is active, and based on its spectrum has been categorised as a LINER. The most accepted theory for the activity source is the presence of an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. The mass of the supermassive black hole at the centre of NGC 2985 is estimated to be 160 million (108.2) M, based on stellar velocity dispersion. [7] The velocity dispersion is anisotropic, and changes with the azimuth. The rotational speed of the galaxy at its effective radius is 222.9 ± 31.2 km/s. [8]

NGC 2985 is the brightest member of a galaxy group known as the NGC 2985 group. Other members of the group include NGC 3027, 25 arcminutes away. Other nearby galaxies include NGC 3252, and NGC 3403. [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2964</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2974</span> Galaxy in the constellation Sextans

NGC 2974 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Sextans. It is located at a distance of circa 90 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 2974 is about 90,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on January 6, 1785. NGC 2974 is located in the sky about 2 and a half degrees south-south east of Iota Hydrae and more than 6 degrees northeast of Alphard. A 10th magnitude star lies next to the galaxy, thus making it a challenging object at low magnifications. NGC 2974 is part of the Herschel 400 Catalogue.

References

  1. "A Beautiful Whorl". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 2985. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  3. "Revised NGC Data for NGC 2985". spider.seds.org. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  4. Seligman, Courtney. "NGC 2985 (= PGC 28316)". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. 1 2 Marchuk, A A; Sotnikova, N Y (April 2018). "Two-component gravitational instability in spiral galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 475 (4): 4891–4910. arXiv: 1804.07962 . Bibcode:2018MNRAS.475.4891M. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty100. S2CID   86864987.
  6. Sandage, A., Bedke, J. (1994), The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies. Volume I, Carnegie Institution of Washington
  7. Dong, X. Y.; De Robertis, M. M. (March 2006). "Low-Luminosity Active Galaxies and Their Central Black Holes". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (3): 1236–1252. arXiv: astro-ph/0510694 . Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1236D. doi:10.1086/499334. S2CID   17630682.
  8. Noordermeer, E.; Merrifield, M. R.; Aragn-Salamanca, A. (June 2008). "Exploring disc galaxy dynamics using integral field unit data". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 388 (3): 1381–1393. arXiv: 0805.3230 . Bibcode:2008MNRAS.388.1381N. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13487.x. S2CID   18059212.
  9. Makarov, Dmitry; Karachentsev, Igor (21 April 2011). "Galaxy groups and clouds in the local (z~ 0.01) Universe". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 412 (4): 2498–2520. arXiv: 1011.6277 . Bibcode:2011MNRAS.412.2498M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18071.x. S2CID   119194025. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2019.