NGC 4639

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NGC 4639
Elegant spiral hides a hungry monster.jpg
A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of NGC 4639. [1]
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Virgo
Right ascension 12h 42m 52.37814s [2]
Declination +13° 15′ 26.7129″ [2]
Heliocentric radial velocity 989 km/s [3]
Distance 72.02 ± 0.23  Mly (22.08 ± 0.07  Mpc) [3]
Group or cluster Virgo Cluster
Apparent magnitude  (V)12.2 [4]
Characteristics
Type SAB(rs)bc [5]
Apparent size  (V)2′.8 × 1′.9 [4]
Notable featuresSeyfert type 1
Other designations
IRAS 12403+1331, LEDA 42741, MCG+02-32-189, NGC 4639, UGC 7884, VCC 1943, [6] PGC 42741 [4]

NGC 4639 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It was discovered by German-born astronomer William Herschel on April 12, 1784. John L. E. Dreyer described it as "pretty bright, small, extended, mottled but not resolved, 12th magnitude star 1 arcmin to southeast". [7] This is a relatively nearby galaxy, [8] lying approximately 72 million light-years away from the Milky Way. [3] It is a companion to NGC 4654, and the two appear to have interacted roughly 500 million years ago. [9] NGC 4639 is a member of the Virgo Cluster. [10]

The morphological classification of this galaxy is SAB(rs)bc, [5] indicating a spiral galaxy with a weak bar (SAB), an incomplete ring around the bar (rs), and moderate to loosely-wound spiral arms (bc). NGC 4639 has a mildly active galactic nucleus of the Seyfert type 1; one of the weakest known. The compact central source has been detected by its X-ray emission, and is variable on timescales of months to years. [8] There is a supermassive black hole at the core [11] with an estimated mass of 7.9×106  M☉ . [12]

Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 4639. The classical Type Ia Supernova SN 1990N was discovered in this galaxy on June 22, 1990, two weeks before reaching peak brightness. [13] It was positioned 63.2″ east and 1.8″ south of the galaxy core. [14] The brightness and proximity of this supernova event has allowed it to be used as a standard candle. [13] SN 2018imf (type IIP, mag. 15.7) was discovered on 14 November, 2018. [15]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 99</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

Messier 99 or M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a grand design spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Coma Berenices approximately 15,000,000 parsecs from the Milky Way. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on 17 March 1781. The discovery was then reported to Charles Messier, who included the object in the Messier Catalogue of comet-like objects. It was one of the first galaxies in which a spiral pattern was seen. This pattern was first identified by Lord Rosse in the spring of 1846.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3982</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3982(also known as UGC 6918) is an intermediate spiral galaxy approximately 68 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789, and misclassified as a planetary nebula. NGC 3982 is a part of the M109 Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6946</span> Galaxy in the constellations Cepheus & Cygnus

NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4725</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4725 is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy with a prominent ring structure, located in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices near the north galactic pole. It was discovered by German-born British astronomer William Herschel on April 6, 1785. The galaxy lies at a distance of approximately 40 megalight-years from the Milky Way. NGC 4725 is the brightest member of the Coma I Group of the Coma-Sculptor Cloud, although it is relatively isolated from the other members of this group. This galaxy is strongly disturbed and is interacting with neighboring spiral galaxy NGC 4747, with its spiral arms showing indications of warping. The pair have an angular separation of 24′, which corresponds to a projected linear separation of 370 kly. A tidal plume extends from NGC 4747 toward NGC 4725.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1566</span> Galaxy in the constellation Dorado

NGC 1566, sometimes known as the Spanish Dancer, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado, positioned about 3.5° to the south of the star Gamma Doradus. It was discovered on May 28, 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. At 10th magnitude, it requires a telescope to view. The distance to this galaxy remains elusive, with measurements ranging from 6 Mpc up to 21 Mpc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7314</span> Galaxy in the constellation Piscis Austrinus

NGC 7314 is a spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on July 29, 1834. This is a nearby Seyfert (active) galaxy, located at a distance of approximately 54.6 megalight-years from the Milky Way. Since it appears to have detached spiral arm segments, it was listed in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4666</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4666 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo, located at a distance of approximately 55 megalight-years from the Milky Way. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. John L. E. Dreyer described it as "bright, very large, much extended 45°±, pretty suddenly brighter middle". It is a member of an interacting system with NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy, and belongs to a small group that also includes NGC 4632.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5584</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 5584 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered July 27, 1881 by American astronomer E. E. Barnard. Distance determination using Cepheid variable measurements gives an estimate of 75 million light years, whereas the tip of the red-giant branch approach yields a distance of 73.4 million light years. It is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,637 km/s. It is a member of the Virgo III Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out to the east of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5668</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 5668 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy, visual magnitude about 11.5, located about 81 million light years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered in 1786 by William Herschel. It is a member of the NGC 5638 Group of galaxies, itself one of the Virgo III Groups strung out to the east of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4030</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4030 is a grand design spiral galaxy located about 64 million light years away in the constellation Virgo. It is a member of the NGC 4030 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster. With an apparent visual magnitude of 10.6, it is visible with a small telescope as a 3 arc minute wide feature about 4.75° to the southeast of the star Beta Virginis. It is inclined by an angle of 47.1° to the line of sight from the Earth and is receding at a velocity of 1,465 km/s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4451</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4451 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial Virgo constellation. It was discovered at the Copenhagen Observatory on March 19, 1865, by Heinrich d'Arrest, who used an 11" refractor telescope. The galaxy is located at a distance of 85 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 862 km/s. It is a member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 157</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cetus

NGC 157 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Cetus, positioned about 4° east of the star Iota Ceti. This galaxy can be viewed from suburban skies using a moderate-sized telescope. It was discovered on December 13, 1783 by William Herschel. The compiler of the New General Catalogue, John Louis Emil Dreyer noted that NGC 157 was "pretty bright, large, extended, between 2 considerably bright stars". It is a relatively isolated galaxy; the nearest other galaxy of comparable luminosity lies at a separation of 4.2 Mly (1.3 Mpc).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3021</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor

NGC 3021 is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Leo Minor. It is about 93 million light-years away from Earth, and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,537±4 km/s. This galaxy was discovered December 7, 1785 by Anglo-German astronomer William Herschel. The morphological classification of NGC 3021 is SA(rs)bc, which indicates a spiral galaxy with no central bar (SA), an incomplete inner ring structure (rs), and moderate to loosely wound spiral arms (bc).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 214</span> Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda

NGC 214 is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Andromeda, located at a distance of 194 megalight-years from the Milky Way. It was discovered on September 10, 1784 by William Herschel. The shape of this galaxy is given by its morphological classification of SABbc, which indicates a weak bar-like structure (SAB) at the core and moderate to loosely-wound spiral arms (bc).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4424</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4424 is a spiral galaxy located in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It was discovered February 27, 1865 by German astronomer Heinrich Louis d'Arrest. This galaxy is located at a distance of 13.5 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 442 km/s. It has a morphological class of SB(s)a, which normally indicates a spiral galaxy with a barred structure (SB), no inner ring feature (s), and tightly-wound spiral arms (a). The galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 62° to the line of sight from the Earth. It is a likely member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4302</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4302 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on April 8, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3294</span> Galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor

NGC 3294 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor. It was discovered by William Herschel on Mar 17, 1787. It is a member of the Leo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the right edge of the Virgo Supercluster. The galaxy is located at a distance of 98 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,586 km/s. The morphological class of NGC 3294 is SA(rs)bc, which means this is a spiral galaxy with no central bar (SA), an incomplete inner ring structure (rs), and moderately wound spiral arms (bc).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1325</span> Galaxy in the constellation Eridanus

NGC 1325 is a flocculent spiral galaxy situated in the constellation of Eridanus. Located about 75 million light years away, it is a member of the Eridanus cluster of galaxies, a cluster of about 200 galaxies. It was discovered by William Herschel on 19 December 1799.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3786</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3786 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located 107.5 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It was discovered by English astronomer John Herschel on April 10, 1831. This object appears to form a close pair with its peculiar neighbor to the north, NGC 3788. They show some indications of interaction, such as minor distortion of the disk or tidal features.

References

  1. ↑ "Elegant spiral hides a hungry monster". Hubble Space Telescope. ESA. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics . 616. A1. arXiv: 1804.09365 . Bibcode: 2018A&A...616A...1G . doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201833051 . Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. 1 2 3 Tully, R. Brent; et al. (October 2013), "Cosmicflows-2: The Data", The Astronomical Journal, 146 (4): 25, arXiv: 1307.7213 , Bibcode:2013AJ....146...86T, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/146/4/86, S2CID   118494842, 86
  4. 1 2 3 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 4639. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  5. 1 2 Graham, Alister W.; et al. (March 2019). "Expected intermediate-mass black holes in the Virgo cluster - II. Late-type galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 484 (1): 814–831. arXiv: 1811.03232 . Bibcode:2019MNRAS.484..814G. doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty3068 . S2CID   119303249.
  6. ↑ "NGC 4639". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  7. ↑ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 4600 - 4649". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  8. 1 2 Ho, Luis C.; et al. (November 1999). "X-Ray Properties of the Weak Seyfert 1 Nucleus in NGC 4639". The Astrophysical Journal. 525 (1): 168–175. arXiv: astro-ph/9905013 . Bibcode:1999ApJ...525..168H. doi:10.1086/307898. S2CID   14517224.
  9. ↑ Vollmer, B. (February 2003). "NGC 4654: Gravitational interaction or ram pressure stripping?". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 398 (2): 525–539. arXiv: astro-ph/0211321 . Bibcode:2003A&A...398..525V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20021729. S2CID   7265130.
  10. ↑ "Detailed Object Classifications". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  11. ↑ Botkin-Kowacki, Eva (13 October 2015). "Spectacular Hubble photo: A bright galaxy holds a hidden secret". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Chiaraluce, E.; et al. (May 2019). "From radio-quiet to radio-silent: low-luminosity Seyfert radio cores". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 485 (3): 3185–3202. arXiv: 1902.10670 . Bibcode:2019MNRAS.485.3185C. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz595 . S2CID   119089306.
  13. 1 2 Saha, A.; et al. (September 1997). "Cepheid Calibration of the Peak Brightness of Type Ia Supernovae. VIII. SN 1990N in NGC 4639". The Astrophysical Journal. 486 (1): 1–20. Bibcode:1997ApJ...486....1S. doi:10.1086/304507.
  14. ↑ Maury, A.; et al. (June 1990). Green, D. W. E. (ed.). "Supernova 1990N in NGC 4639". IAU Circular. 5039: 1. Bibcode:1990IAUC.5039....1M.
  15. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 2018imf. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
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