NGC 4478

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NGC 4478
SDSS NGC 4478.jpeg
SDSS image of NGC 4478.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Virgo
Right ascension 12h 30m 17.4s [1]
Declination 12° 19′ 43″ [1]
Redshift 0.004500/1349 km/s [1]
Distance 52.2 Mly [2]
Group or cluster Virgo Cluster
Apparent magnitude  (V)12.36 [1]
Characteristics
Type E2 [1]
Size~30,000 ly (estimated) [1]
Apparent size  (V)1.9 x 1.6 [1]
Other designations
CGCG 70-133, MCG 2-32-99, PGC 41297, UGC 7645, VCC 1279 [1]

NGC 4478 is an elliptical galaxy located about 50 million light-years away [3] in the constellation Virgo. [4] NGC 4478 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. [5] NGC 4478 is a member of the Virgo Cluster. [6]

Contents

Nuclear disk

Hubble images indicate that NGC 4478 has a central nuclear disk. [7]

Metallicity

In NGC 4478, the central regions of the galaxy are high in metals while having less overabundance of the element iron than the main body. In contrast, the outer regions of the galaxy are low in metals while having a high overabundance in iron. [7]

Globular clusters

NGC 4478 has a typical sub-population of metal-poor globular clusters. However, it has a lack of metal-rich clusters. The lack of metal-rich clusters in other galaxies is usually attributed to accretion, or mergers with other galaxies. The only other known elliptical that has been shown to have a domination of metal-poor globular clusters is the giant galaxy NGC 4874 which is located in the center of the Coma Cluster. [2]

Reduced population

Due to tidal truncation caused by Messier 87, a significant amount of globular clusters have been striped away from NGC 4478 and have become members of Messier 87's globular cluster system. [8]

Interaction with Messier 87

NGC 4478 is likely to be a companion of the giant elliptical Messier 87. The two galaxies are separated from each other by about 130,400 Light-years (40 kpc). NGC 4478 has been tidally truncated by Messier 87. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4309</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4473</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4473 is an elliptical galaxy located about 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784. NGC 4473 has an inclination of about 71°. NGC 4473 is a member of a chain of galaxies called Markarian's Chain which is part of the larger Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4458</span> Galaxy in the Virgo constellation

NGC 4458 is an elliptical galaxy located about 54 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. NGC 4458 is a member of Markarian's Chain which is part of the Virgo Cluster. It is in a pair with the galaxy NGC 4461. NGC 4458 and NGC 4461 are interacting with each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4461</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4461 is a lenticular galaxy located about 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. NGC 4461 is a member of Markarian's Chain which is part of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4468</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4468 is a dwarf elliptical galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on January 14, 1787. It is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4689</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4689 is a spiral galaxy located about 54 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. NGC 4689 is also classified as a LINER galaxy. NGC 4689 is inclined at an angle of about 36° which means that the galaxy is seen almost face-on to the Earth's line of sight. NGC 4689 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4469</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation of Virgo

NGC 4469 is a nearly edge-on spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. It is also classified as a LINER galaxy. NGC 4469 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 15, 1784. It is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4436</span> Lenticular or dwarf irregular galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4436 is a lenticular or dwarf elliptical galaxy located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. NGC 4436 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 17, 1784. The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4476</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Virgo

NGC 4476 is a lenticular galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4476 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4522</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation of Virgo

NGC 4522 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located about 60 million light-years away within the Virgo Cluster in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4522 is losing its molecular gas though ram-pressure stripping as it plows though the cluster at a speed of more than 10 million kilometres per hour. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer John Herschel on January 18, 1828.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4564</span> Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4564 is an elliptical galaxy located about 57 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4564 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784. The galaxy is also a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4580</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4580 is an unbarred spiral galaxy located about 70 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4580 is also classified as a LINER galaxy. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on February 2, 1786 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4596</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4596 is a barred lenticular galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. NGC 4596 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784. NGC 4596 is a member of the Virgo Cluster and has an inclination of about 38°.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESO 444-46</span> Galaxy in the constellation Centaurus

ESO 444-46 is a class E4 supergiant elliptical galaxy; the dominant and brightest member of the Abell 3558 galaxy cluster around 195 megaparsecs away in the constellation Centaurus. It lies within the core of the massive Shapley Supercluster, one of the closest neighboring superclusters. It is one of the largest galaxies in the local universe, and possibly contains one of the most massive black holes known. The black hole's mass is very uncertain, with estimates ranging from as low as 501 million M☉, to as high as 77.6 billion M☉.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3309</span> Galaxy in the constellation Hydra

NGC 3309 is a giant elliptical galaxy located about 200 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. NGC 3309 was discovered by astronomer John Herschel on March 24, 1835. The galaxy forms a pair with NGC 3311 which lies about 72,000 ly (22 kpc) away. Both galaxies dominate the center of the Hydra Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3311</span> Galaxy in the constellation Hydra

NGC 3311 is a super-giant elliptical galaxy located about 190 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. The galaxy was discovered by astronomer John Herschel on March 30, 1835. NGC 3311 is the brightest member of the Hydra Cluster and forms a pair with NGC 3309 which along with NGC 3311, dominate the central region of the Hydra Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4318</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4318 is a small lenticular galaxy located about 72 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer John Herschel on January 18, 1828. NGC 4318 is a member of the Virgo W′ group, a group of galaxies in the background of the Virgo Cluster that is centered on the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4365.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 4478. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  2. 1 2 3 Kissler-Patig, M.; Brodie, J. P.; Minniti, D. (4 June 2002). "Extragalactic globular clusters in the near infrared. I. A comparison between M87 and NGC 4478" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 391 (2): 441–452. arXiv: astro-ph/0206140 . Bibcode:2002A&A...391..441K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020831. S2CID   16529462.
  3. ↑ "Your NED Search Results". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  4. ↑ Rojas, Sebastián García. "Galaxy NGC 4478 - Elliptical Galaxy in Virgo Constellation · Deep Sky Objects Browser". DSO Browser. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  5. ↑ "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 4450 - 4499". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  6. ↑ "Detailed Object Classifications". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  7. 1 2 Morelli, L.; Halliday, C.; Corsini, E. M.; Pizzella, A.; Thomas, D.; Saglia, R. P.; Davies, R. L.; Bender, R.; Birkinshaw, M.; Bertola, F. (19 July 2004). "Nuclear stellar discs in low-luminosity elliptical galaxies: NGC 4458 and 4478" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 354 (3): 753–762. arXiv: astro-ph/0408084 . Bibcode:2004MNRAS.354..753M. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08236.x . S2CID   13933949.
  8. ↑ NEILSEN, JR., ERIC H.; TSVETANOV, ZLATAN I.; FORD, HOLLAND C. (6 February 1997). "The Surface Brightness Fluctuations and Globular Cluster Population of NGC 4478". The Astrophysical Journal. 483 (2): 745–753. arXiv: astro-ph/9712339 . Bibcode:1997ApJ...483..745N. doi:10.1086/304267. S2CID   15606310.
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