NGC 3599

NGC 3599
NGC 3599 by Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationLeo
Right ascension11h 15m 26.949s[1]
Declination+18° 06′ 37.43″[1]
Redshift0.00277[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity876±18 km/s[3]
Distance67 Mly (20.4 Mpc)[4]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.178
Characteristics
TypeSA0:[4]
Other designations
NGC 3599, UGC 6281, MCG +03-29-015, PGC 34326[5]

NGC 3599 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 14, 1784.[6] The galaxy is located at a distance of 67 million light-years (20.4 Mpc) from the Sun.[4] NGC 3599 is a member of the Leo II group of galaxies[4] in the Virgocentric flow.[7]

The morphological classification of NGC 3599 is SA0:,[4] which indicates this is a lenticular galaxy but with some uncertainty in the classification. There is a weak ring structure 45″ to 71″ from the nucleus, and a small bar about 11″ in length.[8] The galaxy is inclined at an angle of 28° to the plane of the sky,[4] so it is being viewed from nearly face-on. The nucleus is compact and not associated with any non-thermal activity.[4] Although not optically active, NGC 3599 is classified as a Seyfert 2 or a LINER-type galaxy.[9] The mass of the central black hole is estimated at (1.3±0.6)×106 M☉.[4]

In 2003, a sudden rise in X-ray emission from NGC 3599 was observed by the XMM-Newton space observatory. Follow-up observations showed a rapid decay in flux during the following years. This was originally suggested as a candidate tidal disruption event but it may instead have been caused by thermal instability of the accretion disk orbiting a black hole.[9]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference GaiaEDR3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gavazzi_et_al_2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ogando_et_al_2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference Silchenko_et_al_2010 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 CSeligman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Esquej_et_al_2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gutiérrez_et_al_2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Saxton_et_al_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).