Messier 105

Messier 105
M105, as viewed by the HST;
Credit: NASA/ESA
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationLeo
Right ascension10h 47m 49.600s[1]
Declination+12° 34′ 53.87″[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity908 km/s[2]
Distance36.6 Mly (11.22 Mpc)[2]
Group or clusterLeo I Group[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)9.3[4]
Characteristics
TypeE1[5]
Apparent size (V)5′.4 × 4′.8[6]
Other designations
M105, NGC 3379, PGC 32256, UGC 5902[7]
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Messier 105 or M105, also known as NGC 3379, is an elliptical galaxy 36.6[2] million light-years away in the equatorial constellation of Leo. It is the biggest elliptical galaxy in the Messier catalogue that is not in the Virgo cluster.[8] It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, just a few days after he discovered the nearby galaxies Messier 95 and Messier 96.[a][9] This galaxy is one of a few not object-verified by Messier so omitted in the editions of his Catalogue of his era. It was appended when Helen S. Hogg found a letter by Méchain locating and describing this object which matched those aspects under its first-published name, NGC 3379.[9]

It has a morphological classification of E1,[5] indicating a standard elliptical galaxy with a flattening of 10%. The major axis is aligned along a position angle of 71°. Isophotes of the galaxy are near perfect ellipses, twisting no more than 5° out of alignment, with changes in ellipticity of no more than 0.06. There is no fine structure apparent in the isophotes, such as ripples.[10] Observation of giant stars in the halo indicate there are two general populations: a dominant metal-rich subpopulation and a weaker metal-poor group.[3]

Messier 105 is known to have a supermassive black hole at its core whose mass is estimated to be between 1.4×108 and 2×108 M☉.[11] The galaxy has a weak active galactic nucleus of the LINER type with a spectral class of L2/T2, meaning no broad Hα line and intermediate emission line ratios between a LINER and a H II region.[12] The galaxy also contains a few young stars and stellar clusters, suggesting some elliptical galaxies still form new stars, but very slowly.[13]

This galaxy, along with its companion the barred lenticular galaxy NGC 3384, is surrounded by an enormous ring of neutral hydrogen with a radius of 200 kiloparsecs (650 kilolight-years) and a mass of 1.8×109 M☉ where star formation has been detected.[14] Messier 105 is one of several galaxies within the M96 Group (also known as the Leo I Group), a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo, the other Messier objects of which are M95 and M96.[15][16][17][18] It is one of the richest group of galaxies in the Local Volume, and unlike the Local Group, it is dominated by not one but several galaxies.[19]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Skrutskie2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Tully2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Lee2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Messier 105". SEDS Messier Catalog. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Tian2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ned was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference simbad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Garner, Rob (6 October 2017). "Messier 105". NASA. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jonesbook1991 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Statler1994 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference shapiro2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eracleous2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference ford2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference thilker2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference nbg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference fouqueetal1992 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference garcia1993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference giuricinetal2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Karachentsev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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