NGC 520

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NGC 520
Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 520 (2008-04-24).jpg
NGC 520 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Pisces
Right ascension 01h 24m 35.071s [1]
Declination +03° 47′ 32.68″ [1]
Redshift 0.007609±0.000010 [2]
Heliocentric radial velocity 2,281±3 km/s [2]
Distance 105  Mly (32.2  Mpc) [3]
Apparent magnitude  (V)12.2 [4]
Characteristics
Type Pec [4]
Size~103,500  ly (31.74  kpc) (estimated) [4]
Apparent size  (V)3.4′ × 1.7′ [4]
Notable features Interacting galaxies
Other designations
IRAS 01219+0331, Arp 157, UGC 966, MCG +01-04-052, PGC 5193, CGCG 411-050, VV 231 [4]

NGC 520, also known as the Flying Ghost, [5] is a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 105 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. [6] They were discovered by astronomer William Herschel on 13 December 1784. [7]

Contents

Halton Arp called this the second-brightest very disturbed galaxy in the sky, and it is as bright in the infrared and radio bands as the Antennae Galaxies. Simulations indicate this object consists of two galactic disks that began interacting about 300 million years ago. The system is still in an early stage of its merger, showing two separate velocity systems in the spectra, and two small tails. Two galactic nuclei have been detected, [8] and one is an H II nucleus. [9]

NGC 520 imaged by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory NGC 520 (noirlab2328a).jpg
NGC 520 imaged by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

The main galactic component is being viewed edge-on, making it fainter in the optical band. The secondary component is brighter but less massive than the main, and is located to the northwest. They are separated by a dark lane of dust. The region of the galaxies outside their nuclei experienced a period of increased star formation roughly around the time they began to interact. [8] Two dwarf objects are located in the vicinity of this merging pair, and one of them, designated UGC957, is located in the northern tidal tail – it may be the result of the interaction. [10]

When viewed in the X-ray band, the interacting galaxies appear around half as luminous as expected given their merger state. Analysis of the gas and molecular features suggests the secondary merger component is gas poor. Most of the star formation, therefore, took place in the gas-rich main component to the southeast. 15 X-ray sources are detected within the merger, with many of them displaying long-term variability. A large galactic wind is evident, being driven by the starburst activity. [8]

See also

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NGC 3432 is an edge-on spiral galaxy that can be found in the northern constellation of Leo Minor. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on March 19, 1787. This galaxy is located at a distance of 40 million light-years (12.3 Mpc) from the Milky Way. It is interacting with UGC 5983, a nearby dwarf galaxy, and features tidal filaments and intense star formation. Because of these features, it was listed in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1380</span> Galaxy in the constellation Fornax

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6621</span> Interacting galaxy in the constellation Draco

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5363</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 5363 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of circa 65 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5363 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on January 19, 1784. It is a member of the NGC 5364 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 4074</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3656</span> Peculiar galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7592</span> Interacting galaxy system in the constellation Aquarius

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References

  1. 1 2 Skrutskie, Michael F.; et al. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi: 10.1086/498708 . ISSN   0004-6256. S2CID   18913331.
  2. 1 2 Crook, Aidan C.; Huchra, John P.; Martimbeau, Nathalie; Masters, Karen L.; Jarrett, Tom; Macri, Lucas M. (February 2007). "Groups of Galaxies in the Two Micron All Sky Redshift Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 655 (2): 790–813. arXiv: astro-ph/0610732 . Bibcode:2007ApJ...655..790C. doi:10.1086/510201. S2CID   11672751.
  3. ↑ Cappellari, Michele; et al. (May 2011). "The ATLAS3D project - I. A volume-limited sample of 260 nearby early-type galaxies: science goals and selection criteria". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 413 (2): 813–836. arXiv: 1012.1551 . Bibcode:2011MNRAS.413..813C. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18174.x . S2CID   15391206.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Results for object NGC 0520". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. NASA and Caltech . Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  5. ↑ Stoyan, Ronald; Schurig, Stephan (2014). interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas. Erlangen: Cambridge University Press; Oculum-Verlag GmbH. ISBN   978-1-107-50338-0. OCLC   920437579.
  6. ↑ "Distance Results for NGC 0520". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  7. ↑ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 500 - 549". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  8. 1 2 3 Read, Andrew M. (May 2005). "A Chandra view of the anomalous half-merger NGC 520". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 359 (2): 455–463. arXiv: astro-ph/0502483 . Bibcode:2005MNRAS.359..455R. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.08958.x . S2CID   15244648.
  9. ↑ Ho, Luis C.; et al. (October 1997). "A Search for "Dwarf" Seyfert Nuclei. III. Spectroscopic Parameters and Properties of the Host Galaxies". Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 112 (2): 315–390. arXiv: astro-ph/9704107 . Bibcode:1997ApJS..112..315H. doi:10.1086/313041. S2CID   17086638.
  10. ↑ Delgado-Donate, E. J.; et al. (May 2003). "Dwarfs after mergers? The case of NGC 520, NGC 772, Arp 141, NGC 3226/7, NGC 3656 and Arp 299". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 402 (3): 921–928. arXiv: astro-ph/0302492 . Bibcode:2003A&A...402..921D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030211-1. S2CID   5932040.
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