NGC 5053

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NGC 5053
NGC5053 - SDSS DR14 (panorama).jpg
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Class XI
Constellation Coma Berenices
Right ascension 13h 16m 27.09s [1]
Declination +17° 42′ 00.9″ [1]
Distance 17.4  kpc (57  kly) [2]
Apparent magnitude (V)9.96 [3]
Apparent dimensions (V)10.5'
Physical characteristics
Tidal radius 89.13 pc (290.7 ly) [2]
Metallicity  = −2.30 [3] dex
Estimated age12.3±0.7  Gyr [4]
Other designations Cr 267, C 1313+179, GCl 23
See also: Globular cluster, List of globular clusters

NGC 5053 is the New General Catalogue designation for a globular cluster in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on March 14, 1784 and cataloged as VI-7. In his abbreviated notation, he described it as, "an extremely faint cluster of extremely small stars with resolvable nebula 8 or 10′ diameter, verified by a power of 240, beyond doubt". [5] Danish-Irish astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer reported in 1888 that the cluster appeared, "very faint, pretty large, irregular round shape, growing very gradually brighter at the middle". [6]

This is a metal-poor cluster, meaning the stars have a low abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium—what astronomers term metallicity. As recently as 1995, it was considered the most metal-poor globular cluster in the Milky Way. [7] The chemical abundances of the stars in NGC 5053 are more similar to those in the dwarf galaxy Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy than to the Milky Way halo. Along with the kinematics of the globular cluster, this suggests that NGC 5053 may have been stripped from the dwarf galaxy. [8]

There are ten known RR Lyrae variable stars in this cluster with masses ranging from 68% to 78% of the solar mass. Nine of these variables were reported by German astronomer Walter Baade in 1928, and the tenth by American astronomer Helen Sawyer in 1946. [9] The cluster hosts 27 known blue stragglers, [4] of which five are short period SX Phoenicis variable stars. [9]

NGC 5053 is a relatively low mass cluster with a low core concentration factor of 1.32. It sports a stream of tidal debris to the west with a projected length of 1.7 kpc. This stream may have been created through shock-induced processes. [10] The cluster is located less than 1° from Messier 53 and the two have nearly the same distance modulus, which corresponds to a spatial separation of around 2 kpc. There is a tidal bridge joining M53 to NGC 5053, suggesting the pair may have interacted in the past. [2] The cluster is following an orbit through the Milky Way that has a perigalacticon distance of 9 kpc and an orbital eccentricity of 0.84. [10] At present, it is 18.4 kpc from the Galactic Center, with a radial velocity of 42.0±1.4 km/s. [2]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 3</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 2</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 53</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 56</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Lyra

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 62</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus

Messier 62 or M62, also known as NGC 6266, is a globular cluster of stars in the south of the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. It was discovered in 1771 by Charles Messier, then added to his catalogue eight years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 68</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Hydra

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5466</span> Class XII globular cluster in the constellation Boötes

NGC 5466 is a class XII globular cluster in the constellation Boötes. Located 51,800 light years from Earth and 52,800 light years from the Galactic Center, it was discovered by William Herschel on May 17, 1784, as H VI.9. This globular cluster is unusual insofar as it contains a certain blue horizontal branch of stars, as well as being unusually metal poor like ordinary globular clusters. It is thought to be the source of a stellar stream discovered in 2006, called the 45 Degree Tidal Stream. This star stream is an approximately 1.4° wide star lane extending from Boötes to Ursa Major.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5986</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Lupus

NGC 5986 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Lupus, located at a distance of approximately 34 kilolight-years from the Sun. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 10, 1826. John L. E. Dreyer described it as, "a remarkable object, a globular cluster, very bright, large, round, very gradually brighter middle, stars of 13th to 15th magnitude". Its prograde–retrograde orbit through the Milky Way galaxy is considered irregular and highly eccentric. It has a mean heliocentric radial velocity of +100 km/s. The galacto-centric distance is 17 kly (5.2 kpc), which puts it in the galaxy's inner halo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1851</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Columba

NGC 1851 is a relatively massive globular cluster located in the southern constellation of Columba. Astronomer John Dreyer described it as not very bright but very large, round, well resolved, and clearly consisting of stars. It is located 39.5 kilolight-years from the Sun, and 54.1 kilolight-years from the Galactic Center. The cluster is following a highly eccentric orbit through the galaxy, with an eccentricity of about 0.7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terzan 7</span>

Terzan 7 is a sparse and young globular cluster that is believed to have originated in the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy and is physically associated with it. It is relatively metal rich with [Fe/H] = -0.6 and an estimated age of 7.5 Gyr. Terzan 7 has low levels of nickel which supports its membership in the Sag DEG system since it has a similar chemical signature. It has a rich population of blue stragglers that are strongly concentrated toward the center of Terzan 7. It has an average luminosity distribution of Mv = -5.05. It has a half-light radius (Rh) of 6.5pc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1261</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Horologium

NGC 1261 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Horologium, first discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop in 1826. The cluster is located at a distance of 53 kilolight-years from the Sun, and 59 kilolight-years from the Galactic Center. It is about 10.24 billion years old with 341,000 times the mass of the Sun. The cluster does not display the normal indications of core collapse, but evidence suggests it may have instead passed through a post core-collapse bounce state within the past two billion years. The central luminosity density is 2.22 L☉·pc−3, which is low for a globular cluster. Despite this, it has a Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class of II, indicating a dense central concentration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6352</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ara

NGC 6352 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Ara, located approximately 18.3 kly from the Sun. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 14, 1826. The cluster has a Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class of XI:. A telescope with a 15 cm (5.9 in) aperture is required to resolve the stars within this loose cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5286</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus

NGC 5286 is a globular cluster of stars located some 35,900 light years away in the constellation Centaurus. At this distance, the light from the cluster has undergone reddening from interstellar gas and dust equal to E(B – V) = 0.24 magnitude in the UBV photometric system. The cluster lies 4 arc-minutes north of the naked-eye star M Centauri. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, active in Australia, and listed in his 1827 catalog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6584</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Telescopium

NGC 6584 is a globular cluster in the constellation Telescopium that lies near Theta Arae and is 45000 light-years distant. It is an Oosterhoff type I cluster, and contains at least 69 variable stars, most of which are RR Lyrae variables: 46 stars were identified as RRab variables; 15 as RRc variables, 1 RRe variable, 4 eclipsing binaries and 3 long period variables. NGC 6584 is about 4 kpc from the Galactic Center and about 2.7 kpc from the Galactic plane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4147</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4147 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel on March 14, 1784, who described it as "very bright, pretty large, gradually brighter in the middle". With an apparent visual magnitude of 10.7, it is located around 60,000 light years away from the Sun at a relatively high galactic latitude of 77.2°.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6441</span> Globular cluster in Scorpius

NGC 6441 is a globular cluster in the southern constellation of Scorpius. It was discovered by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 13, 1826, who described it as "a small, well-defined rather bright nebula, about 20″ in diameter". The cluster is located 5 arc minutes east-northeast of the star G Scorpii, and is some 43,000 light-years from the Sun.

References

  1. 1 2 Goldsbury, Ryan; et al. (December 2010), "The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters", The Astronomical Journal, 140 (6): 1830–1837, arXiv: 1008.2755 , Bibcode:2010AJ....140.1830G, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/6/1830, S2CID   119183070.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Boberg, Owen M.; et al. (May 2015), "Chemical Abundances in NGC 5053: A Very Metal-poor and Dynamically Complex Globular Cluster", The Astrophysical Journal, 804 (2): 12, arXiv: 1504.01791 , Bibcode:2015ApJ...804..109B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/804/2/109, S2CID   117834526, 109.
  3. 1 2 Dalessandro, Emanuele; et al. (November 2012), "Ultraviolet Properties of Galactic Globular Clusters with Galex. II. Integrated Colors", The Astronomical Journal, 144 (5): 13, arXiv: 1208.5698 , Bibcode:2012AJ....144..126D, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/144/5/126, S2CID   56419886, 126.
  4. 1 2 Arellano Ferro, A.; et al. (February 2010), "CCD time-series photometry of the globular cluster NGC 5053: RR Lyrae, Blue Stragglers and SX Phoenicis stars revisited", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 402 (1): 226–244, arXiv: 0910.2068 , Bibcode:2010MNRAS.402..226A, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15931.x, S2CID   119301509.
  5. ↑ Herschel, William (1786), "Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 76: 457–499, Bibcode:1786RSPT...76..457H, doi: 10.1098/rstl.1786.0027 See p. 495.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  6. ↑ Dreyer, John L. E. (1971), "New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars", Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society: 141, retrieved 2016-08-08.
  7. ↑ Sarajedini, Ata; Milone, Alejandra A. E. (January 1995), "BVI CCD photometry of NGC 5053: The most metal-poor galactic globular cluster", The Astronomical Journal, 109 (1669): 269–279, Bibcode:1995AJ....109..269S, doi: 10.1086/117271 .
  8. ↑ Sbordone, L.; et al. (July 2015), "Chemical abundances of giant stars in NGC 5053 and NGC 5634, two globular clusters associated with the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy?", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 579: 12, arXiv: 1505.01487 , Bibcode:2015A&A...579A.104S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425509, S2CID   55408091, A104.
  9. 1 2 Nemec, James M. (April 2004), "Physical Characteristics of the RR Lyrae Stars in the Very Metal Poor Globular Cluster NGC 5053", The Astronomical Journal, 127 (4): 2185–2209, Bibcode:2004AJ....127.2185N, doi: 10.1086/382903 .
  10. 1 2 Lauchner, Adam; et al. (November 2006), "Discovery of a Tidal Stream Extending from NGC 5053", The Astrophysical Journal, 651 (1): L33–L36, Bibcode:2006ApJ...651L..33L, doi: 10.1086/509254 .


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