| NGC 3978 | |
|---|---|
 Sloan Digital Sky Survey image of spiral galaxy NGC 3978 (center) and NGC 3975 (right) | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Right ascension | 11h 56m 10.3326s [1] |
| Declination | +60° 31′ 20.969″ [1] |
| Redshift | 0.033176 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 9,946 km/s |
| Distance | 459 Mly (140.7 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.4 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SABbc, HII, SABbc? |
| Size | ~240,600 ly (73.78 kpc) (estimated) [1] |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.29′ × 1.16′ [1] |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 37502, UGC 6910, CGCG 292-047, MCG +10-17-105, 2MASX J11561045+6031300, 2MASS J11561030+6031209, HOLM 306A, IRAS 11535+6047, SDSS J115610.31+603121.1, NVSS J115610+603121 | |
NGC 3978 is a large intermediate spiral galaxy with a bar [2] located in the constellation of Ursa Major. [3] It is located 460 million light-years away from the Solar System [1] and was discovered by William Herschel on March 19, 1790, but also observed by John Herschel on April 14, 1831. [4]
NGC 3978 has a luminosity class of II-III and it has a broad H II region which contains regions of ionized hydrogen. [1] In addition, it is categorized as a LINER galaxy by SIMBAD, [5] meaning its nucleus presents an emission spectrum which is characterized by broad lines of weakly ionized atoms. [5]
According to Vaucouleurs and Corwin, NGC 3978 and NGC 3975 form a galaxy pair with each other. [6]