| NGC 4458 | |
|---|---|
| The elliptical galaxy NGC 4458 as imaged by the SDSS. | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 12h 28m 57.5s [1] |
| Declination | 13° 14′ 31″ [1] |
| Redshift | 0.002258/677 km/s [1] |
| Distance | 54,801,600 ly |
| Group or cluster | Virgo Cluster |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.93 [1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | E0 [1] |
| Mass | ~1.07×1010 [2] M☉ |
| Size | ~ 29,000 ly (estimated) [1] |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.7 x 1.6 [1] |
| Other designations | |
| CGCG 70-114, MCG 2-32-82, PGC 41095, UGC 7610, VCC 1146 [1] | |
NGC 4458 is an elliptical galaxy located about 54 million light-years away [3] [4] in the constellation of Virgo. [5] It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. [6] NGC 4458 is a member of Markarian's Chain which is part of the Virgo Cluster. [7] It is in a pair with the galaxy NGC 4461. [8] NGC 4458 and NGC 4461 are interacting with each other. [9]
NGC 4458 may have a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 200 million Suns (2×108 M☉). [2]
NGC 4458 has an edge-on nuclear disk which is estimated to be about 6 billion years old. [10] The disk likely formed from the merger of a gas-rich galaxy and has been found to have "similar properties to the decoupled cores of bright ellipticals". [11] [12]
Using Hubble images, it has been determined that NGC 4458 has a counter-rotating core. [9]
NGC 4458 has a low metal content but has an overabundance of the element iron. [9]