Circinus Galaxy
Galaxy in the constellation Circinus
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The Circinus Galaxy (also known as ESO 97-G13) is a Seyfert galaxy[2] in the constellation of Circinus. It is located 4 degrees below the Galactic plane, and, at a distance of 4.0 Mpc (13 Mly), is one of the closest major galaxies to the Milky Way.[3] The galaxy is undergoing tumultuous changes, as rings of gas are likely being ejected from the galaxy.[4] Its outermost ring is 1400 light-years across while the inner ring is 260 light-years across.[citation needed] Although the Circinus galaxy can be seen using a small telescope, it was not noticed until 1977[5] because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way and is obscured by galactic dust. The Circinus Galaxy is a Type II Seyfert galaxy and is one of the closest known active galaxies to the Milky Way, though it is probably slightly farther away than Centaurus A.
| Circinus Galaxy | |
|---|---|
A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of the core of the Circinus Galaxy. | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Circinus |
| Right ascension | 14h 13m 09.9643s[1] |
| Declination | −65° 20′ 20.731″[1] |
| Redshift | 426 ± 25 km/s |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.1[1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA(s)b[1] |
| Size | 14.85 kpc × 6.09 kpc (48,430 ly × 19,860 ly) (diameter; 2MASS K-band total isophote)[1][a] 10.38 kpc × 5.19 kpc (33,855 ly × 16,928 ly) (diameter; ESO 90% total B-band)[1][a] |
| Apparent size (V) | 6.9′ × 3.0′[1] |
| Other designations | |
| ESO 097- G 013, IRAS 14092-6506, 2MASX J14130990-6520204, LEDA 50779, PGC 50779[1] | |
The Circinus Galaxy is one of twelve large galaxies in the "Council of Giants" surrounding the Local Group in the Local Sheet.[6] One object is possibly a satellite of the Circinus Galaxy, known as HIZOA J1353-58. HIZOA J1353-58 was discovered in a survey of neutral hydrogen (H I) and is located within the Zone of Avoidance.[7]
NuSTAR detected a ULX at the edge of this galaxy, a black hole about 100 times the mass of the Sun. [8][9]
Supernova
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Circinus Galaxy produced supernova SN 1996cr (Type IIn, mag. 15.8), which was identified over a decade after it exploded.[10][11][12] This supernova event was first observed during 2001 as a bright, variable object in a Chandra X-ray Observatory image,[13] but it was not confirmed as a supernova until years later.
Image gallery
The Circinus Galaxy imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing its central black hole imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope
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Notes
- The quoted diameters in this infobox was based on NED's provided scale of 15 pc/arcsec multiplied with the given angular diameters.
