NGC 5668

NGC 5668
A spiral galaxy, seen up close and face-on. It is coloured yellow and glowing brightly at the oval-shaped centre, showing older and cooler stars, and it becomes bluer out to the edge of the disc where the stars are younger and hotter. It has a number of somewhat patchy spiral arms curling around, with sparkling areas where stars form. The black background can just be seen at the corners.
NGC 5668 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension14h 33m 24.331s[1]
Declination+04° 27′ 01.75″[1]
Redshift0.005280
Heliocentric radial velocity1,582 ± 5[2] km/s
Distance80.9 ± 5.5 million light years (24.8 ± 1.7 Mpc)[2]
Group or clusterNGC 5638 Group, NGC 5746 Group, Virgo III Groups
Characteristics
TypeSA(s)d[2]
Mass5.7×1010[2] M☉
Size~48,400 ly (14.84 kpc) (estimated)
Apparent size (V)3.0′ × 3.0′
Other designations
IRAS 14309+0440, UGC 9363, MCG +01-37-028, PGC 52018, CGCG 047-090[3]

NGC 5668 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy, visual magnitude about 11.5,[4] located about 81[2] million light years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered on 29 April 1786 by William Herschel.[4] It is a member of the NGC 5638 Group of galaxies, itself one of the Virgo III Groups strung out to the east of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.[5] In addition, A.M. Garcia listed NGC 5668 in the 31 member NGC 5746 galaxy group (also known as LGG 386).[6]

As seen from the Earth, it is inclined by an angle of 18° to the line of sight along a position angle of 145°. The morphological classification in the De Vaucouleurs system is SA(s)d,[2] indicating a pure spiral structure with loosely wound arms.[7] However, optical images of the galaxy indicate the presence of a weak bar structure spanning an angle of 12″ across the nucleus. There is a dwarf galaxy located around 650×10^3 ly (200 kpc) to the southeast of NGC 5668, and the two may be gravitationally interacting.[2]

Three supernovae have been observed in this galaxy: SN 1952G (type unknown, mag. 17.9),[8] SN 1954B (type Ia, mag. 12.3),[9] and SN 2004G (type II, mag. 17.2).[10][11][12] The last was initially imaged on January 19, 2004, at 43" to the west and 12".5 south of the galaxy core.[11] High velocity clouds of neutral hydrogen have been observed in NGC 5668, which may have their origin in supernova explosions and strong stellar winds.[13]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ApJ131_1163 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference ApJ754_1_61 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference SIMBAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 5650 - 5699". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  5. ^ "The Virgo III Groups". Atlas of the Universe. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  6. ^ Garcia, A. M. (1993). "General study of group membership. II. Determination of nearby groups". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 100: 47. Bibcode:1993A&AS..100...47G.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Buta2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "SN 1952G". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  9. ^ "SN 1954B". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  10. ^ "SN 2004G". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IAUC_8272 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAUC_8273 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference AAA358_812 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).