NGC 3921

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NGC 3921
Evolution in slow motion.jpg
NGC 3921, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Ursa Major
Right ascension 11h 51m 06.863s [1]
Declination +55° 04′ 43.38″ [1]
Redshift 0.019667 [2]
Helio radial velocity 5896 km/s [2]
Distance 277.9  Mly (85.19  Mpc) [3]
Apparent magnitude  (V)12.64 [4]
Apparent magnitude  (B)13.4 [4]
Absolute magnitude  (V)−22.09 [5]
Characteristics
Type (R')SA0/a(s) pec [2]
Size180,200  ly (55,240  pc) [2] [note 1]
Apparent size  (V)2.1′ × 1.3′
Other designations
Arp 224, UGC 6823, MGC+09-20-009, PGC 37063

NGC 3921 is an interacting galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. Estimates using redshift put it at about 59 million light years (18 megaparsecs) from Earth. [3] It was discovered on 14 April 1789 by William Herschel, [6] and was described as "pretty faint, small, round" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue. [7]

Contents

NGC 3921 is the remnant of a galaxy merger. The two progenitor galaxies are thought to have been disk galaxies that collided about 700 million years ago. [8] The image shows noticeable star formation and structures like loops, indicative of galaxies interacting. [8] Because of this, NGC 3921 was included in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies under the designation Arp 224. [4]

Being a starburst galaxy, NGC 3921 has important features. One of them is an ultraluminous X-ray source, designated X-2, with an X-ray luminosity of 8×1039 erg/s. [9] Additionally, two candidate globular clusters have been detected within NGC 3921. [5] They are both fairly young, and about half as massive as Omega Centauri, demonstrating that mergers of gas-rich galaxies can also create more metal-rich globular clusters. [5]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5754</span> Galaxy in the constellation Boötes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5752</span> Galaxy in the constellation Boötes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3554</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3268</span> Galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 3268 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 40.7 megaparsecs away. It was discovered on April 18, 1835 by the astronomer John Herschel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3258</span> Galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 3258 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Antlia. It is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which lies about 40.7 megaparsecs away. It was discovered on May 2, 1834 by John Herschel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3281</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Antlia

NGC 3281 is a large unbarred spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Antlia, located at a distance of 144.7 megalight-years from the Milky Way. The galaxy is inclined by an angle of 64° to the line-of-sight from the Earth, with the major axis aligned with a position angle of 137°. It is a luminous infrared galaxy and a type II Seyfert galaxy. NGC 3281 is a member of the Antlia Cluster, which belongs to the Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4698</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4698 is a barred spiral galaxy located around 55 million light years away from Earth in the constellation of Virgo. It belongs to the Virgo Cluster of galaxies and is positioned near the northeastern edge of this assemblage. The morphological classification of NGC 4698 in the De Vaucouleurs system is SA(s)ab, which indicates a purely spiral structure with moderate to tightly wound arms. It is inclined to the line of sight from the Earth by an angle of 53° along a position angle of 170°.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 159</span> Galaxy in the constellation Phoenix

NGC 159 is a barred lenticular galaxy in the constellation Phoenix. The galaxy was discovered on October 28, 1834, by John Frederick William Herschel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1683</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Orion

NGC 1683 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Orion. The object was discovered in 1850 by the Irish astronomer William Parsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1326</span> Galaxy in the constellation Fornax

NGC 1326 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Fornax, 63 million light-years away. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on 29 November 1837. It is a member of the Fornax Cluster, an NGC 1316 subgroup and has a diameter of 70 000 light-years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 950</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cetus

NGC 950 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is approximately 205 million light-years away from the Solar System and has a diameter of about 85,000 light-years. The object was discovered in 1886 by American astronomer and mathematician Ormond Stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 670</span> Galaxy in the constellation Triangulum

NGC 670 is a lenticular galaxy located in the Triangulum constellation about 165 million light years from the Milky Way. It was discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1786.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 904</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Aries

NGC 904 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Aries. It is estimated to be 244 million light years from the Milky Way and has a diameter of approximately 85,000 ly. NGC 904 was discovered on 13 December 1884 by the astronomer Edouard Stephan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 906</span> Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

NGC 906 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda in the northern sky. It is estimated to be 215 million light years from the Milky Way and has a diameter of approximately 110,000 ly. NGC 906 was discovered on October 30, 1878 by astronomer Édouard Stephan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 804</span> Lenticular galaxy in the constellation Triangulum

NGC 804 is a lenticular galaxy located in the Triangulum constellation about 231 million light-years from the Milky Way. It was discovered by the American astronomer Lewis Swift in 1885. This galaxy was also observed by the French astronomer Guillaume Bigourdan on December 24, 1897, and it has been added to the Index Catalogue under the symbol IC 1773.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 766</span> Galaxy in the constellation Pisces

NGC 766 is an elliptical galaxy located in the Pisces constellation about 362 million light years from the Milky Way. It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel in 1828.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 623</span> Large elliptical galaxy in the constellation Sculptor

NGC 623 is a large elliptical galaxy located in the Sculptor constellation at a distance of about 400 million light-years away from the Milky Way. It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 861</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum

NGC 861 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum. It is estimated to be 360 million light-years from the Milky Way and has a diameter of approximately 165,000 light-years. The object was discovered on September 18, 1865 by Heinrich d'Arrest.

References

  1. 1 2 Skrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi: 10.1086/498708 . ISSN   0004-6256. S2CID   18913331.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "NED results for object NGC 3921". National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Infrared Processing and Analysis Center . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 Crook, Aidan C.; Huchra, John P.; Martimbeau, Nathalie; Masters, Karen L.; Jarrett, Tom; Macri, Lucas M. (2007). "Groups of Galaxies in the Two Micron All Sky Redshift Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 655 (2): 790–813. arXiv: astro-ph/0610732 . Bibcode:2007ApJ...655..790C. doi:10.1086/510201. S2CID   11672751.
  4. 1 2 3 "NGC 3921". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Schweizer, François; Seitzer, Patrick; Brodie, Jean P. (2004). "Keck Spectroscopy of Two Young Globular Clusters in the Merger Remnant NGC 3921". The Astronomical Journal. 128 (1): 202–210. arXiv: astro-ph/0404424 . Bibcode:2004AJ....128..202S. doi:10.1086/421851. S2CID   14568163.
  6. ↑ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 3900 - 3949". cseligman.com. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Revised NGC Data for NGC 3921 - Hartmut Frommert - SEDS". seds.org. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Evolution in slow motion | ESA/Hubble". www.spacetelescope.org. 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  9. ↑ Jonker, P. G.; Heida, M.; Torres, M. A. P.; Miller-Jones, J. C. A.; Fabian, A. C.; Ratti, E. M.; Miniutti, G.; Walton, D. J.; Roberts, T. P. (2012). "The Nature of the Bright Ulx X-2 in Ngc 3921: Achandraposition Andhstcandidate Counterpart". The Astrophysical Journal. 758 (1): 28. arXiv: 1208.4502 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...758...28J. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/758/1/28. S2CID   59330131.

Notes

  1. ↑ POSS1 103a-O values used.
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