NGC 5064

NGC 5064
Image of NGC 5064 created using the Aladin Sky Atlas software
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Centaurus
Right ascension	13h 20m 31s
Declination	-48° 02’ 33”
Distance	148 million ly
Absolute magnitude  (V)	11.61
Absolute magnitude  (B)	12.81
magnitude  (J)	9.09
magnitude  (H)	8.38
magnitude  (K)	8.01
Characteristics
Type	Spiral
Notable features	Large retrograde orbiting clouds of gas
Other designations
GC 3480, h 348

NGC 5064 is a spiral galaxy located 45.5 mpc from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus. It is situated south of the celestial equator making it visible primarily in the southern hemisphere. ^[1] The most notable features of NGC 5064 are its giant molecular clouds (GMCs) which exhibit a retrograde orbit around the galaxy. They gained their retrograde orbit through cloud-cloud collisions. ^[2]

Molecular clouds

The molecular clouds that are found within NGC 5064 are similar to those found in the Milky Way galaxy and other local group galaxies in terms of size (17-127 parsecs) mass (2.5x10^5- 3.2x10^7 solar masses) and velocity 1.2-17.9 km per second). Theses molecular clouds are giant compared to the galaxy taking up a significant fraction of its mass. What makes them more unusual is their retrograde orbit. They have strong gravitational force making them strongly bound which is supported by magnetic fields. ^[2]

References

1. "NGC 5064 - Spiral Galaxy in Centaurus | TheSkyLive". theskylive.com. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
2. Liu, Lijie; Shu, Fanglin; Bureau., Martin; Onishi, Kyoko; Davis, Timothy A; Liang, Fu-Heng; Choi, Woorak; Williams, Thomas G; Lu, Anan; Iguchi, Satoru (2025-08-21). "WISDOM Project – XXIV. Giant molecular clouds of the spiral galaxy NGC 5064: high fraction of retrograde rotation". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 541 (4): 3081–3100. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf1159 . ISSN   0035-8711.