NGC 2397

NGC 2397
NGC 2397 by HST
Credit: NASA, ESA & Stephen Smartt
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationVolans
Right ascension07h 21m 19.89194s[1]
Declination−69° 00′ 05.0140″[1]
Redshift0.004546[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity1,357 km/s[3]
Distance69 Mly (21.18 Mpc)[3]
Group or clusterNGC 2442[4]
Apparent magnitude (V)12.68[2]
Absolute magnitude (B)−20.98[5]
Characteristics
TypeSB(s)b[5]
Apparent size (V)1′.643 × 0′.887[6]
Other designations
NGC 2397, PGC 20766
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NGC 2397 is a flocculent spiral galaxy[7] located in the southern Volans constellation, about one degree to the SSE of Delta Volantis.[8] English astronomer John Herschel discovered the galaxy on February 21, 1835.[9] It is located at a distance of approximately 69 million light years from the Sun,[3] and is a member of the small NGC 2442 group that includes NGC 2434.[4]

The morphological classification of NGC 2397 is SB(s)b,[5] which indicates this is a barred spiral (SB) with no ring structure around the nucleus (s) and moderately tightly–wound spiral arms (b). The nucleus is partly obscured[4] and consists of older yellow and red stars; more recent stars have formed within the outer blue spiral arms, which also feature protrusions of dust.[10]

In March 2006, a star in the galaxy, SN 2006bc, was spotted in the late stages of supernova.[11] Astronomers at Queen's University Belfast, who have been studying supernovas to find out what sort of stars explode, worked through previously captured images of the galaxy and found one of when the star exploded, one of only six ever collected.[12] Early spectra indicated this was a type II supernova, possibly of sub-type II-L or II-P.[13]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GaiaDR2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ned was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Cosmicflows3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Ryder2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Whitmore2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Skrutskie2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carollo1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sinnott1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ngcatlas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference nearbygalaxy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Explodingstar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference ONeill2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Szalai2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).