NGC 3432

NGC 3432
SDSS DR14 image of NGC 3432
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationLeo Minor
Right ascension10h 52m 31.132s[1]
Declination+36° 37′ 07.60″[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity613[2]
Distance40.1 ± 5.8 Mly (12.30 ± 1.77 Mpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)11.3[3]
Characteristics
TypeSB(s)m[4]
Apparent size (V)6.5″ × 1.1″[3]
Other designations
NGC 3432, Arp 206, UGC 5986, PGC 32643[5]

NGC 3432 is an edge-on spiral galaxy that can be found in the northern constellation of Leo Minor.[6] It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on March 19, 1787.[7] This galaxy is located at a distance of 40 million light-years (12.3 Mpc) from the Milky Way.[2] 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.[8]

Hubble image of NGC 3432 showing regions of star formation[9]

The morphological classification of NGC 3432 is SB(s)m,[4] which indicates this is a barred Magellanic spiral galaxy (SB) with no inner ring structure (s) and an irregular appearance (m). The galaxy is inclined at an angle of 85°±2° to the plane of the sky[2] with its major axis along a positional angle of 38°, which means it is being viewed from nearly edge-on. It is interacting with the companion galaxy UGC 5983, which is creating features that extend outside the galactic plane, as well as an extended halo of radio emission.[4] The shape of the galaxy is distorted and two tidal tails have been identified. NGC 3432 has an active galactic nucleus of the LINER type with a nuclear HII region.[10]

In May 3, 2000, a candidate nova was detected in this galaxy.[11] It was located 123″ east and 180″ north of the galactic nucleus, and aligned with an H II region (or spiral arm) of the galaxy.[12] This appeared similar to a type IIn supernova (designated SN 2000ch), but it peaked below the typical luminosity of these events. As such, it may have been a "superoutburst" of a luminous variable and thus it could have survived the event.[13] The outburst was found comparable to an eruption of Eta Carinae in the mid–nineteenth century.[14] Multiple subsequent outbursts were observed in 2008 and 2009.[15] It is now classified as a supernova imposter, and is expected to become a core collapse supernova in the future.[16]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Skrutskie_et_al_2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Kourkchi_et_al_2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gilmour_2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference English_Irwin_1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simbad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ST was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference CSeligman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arp_1966 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASA_2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Irwin_et_al_2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wagner_et_al_2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Papenkova_Li_2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Filippenko_2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wagner_et_al_2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pastorello_et_al_2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Müller_et_al_2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).