NGC 4261

NGC 4261
An X-ray image of NGC 4261.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension12h 19m 23.21606s[1]
Declination+05° 49′ 29.7000″[1]
Redshift0.007465[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity2,238±7 km/s[2]
Distance95.9 ± 8.5 Mly (29.4 ± 2.6 Mpc)[3]
Group or clusterNGC 4261 group, Virgo Cluster
Apparent magnitude (V)12.87[4]
Apparent magnitude (B)13.92[4]
Characteristics
TypeE2[5]
Apparent size (V)4′.17 × 3′.39[6]
Other designations
NGC 4261, UGC 7360,[7] PGC 39659[2]
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NGC 4261 is an elliptical galaxy[8] located around 100 million light-years[9] away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered April 13, 1784, by the German-born astronomer William Herschel.[10] The galaxy is a member of its own somewhat meager[11] galaxy group known as the NGC 4261 group,[8] which is part of the Virgo Cluster.[10][dubious – discuss]

The morphological classification of this galaxy is E2,[5] indicating an elliptical galaxy with a 5:4 ratio between the major and minor axes. The stellar population of the galaxy is old, showing no indications of recent mergers or interactions with other members of its group. Large-scale isophotes of the galaxy are generally boxy in form, with no markers that would suggest a disruptive interaction within the last billion years. There is a dust lane along the north–south axis of the galaxy and a disk of dust around the nucleus.

Two prominent jets emanating from the nucleus can be observed in the radio band. It has an active galactic nucleus with a supermassive black hole somewhat offset from the center of the core.[12] The black hole is estimated to have a mass of (1.62±0.04)×109 M☉.[13] The galaxy is estimated to be about 60 thousand light-years across,[14] and a jet emanating from it is estimated to span about 88 thousand light-years.[15]

A Type Ia supernova[5] event in this galaxy was reported on January 1, 2001. It was designated SN 2001A, marking the first supernova discovery of the year. The position of the event was 3.1″ west and 10.7″ north of the galactic nucleus. It reached magnitude 18.4 on December 15 of the previous year.[16]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Truebenbach2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference ned was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference jensenetal2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Véron-Cetty2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference vanDenBergh2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Paturel2003 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. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Davis1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference STScI-1997-01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cseligman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zezas2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference STScI-1995-47 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ruffa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference atlas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference astro162 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Modjaz2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).