NGC 3593
Galaxy in the constellation Leo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 3593 is a lenticular galaxy located in the equatorial constellation of Leo.[1] It has a morphological classification of SA(s)0/a,[4] which indicates it is a lenticular galaxy of the pure spiral type.[5] Despite this, it has a large amount of hydrogen, both in its molecular (H
2) and atomic (H) form.[6] It is a starburst galaxy, which means it is forming new stars at a high rate. This is occurring in a band of gas surrounding the central nucleus. There is a single arm, which spirals outward from this ring.[7] It is frequently but not consistently identified as a member of the Leo Triplet group.[8]
| NGC 3593 | |
|---|---|
An infrared Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of NGC 3593. | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Leo[1] |
| Right ascension | 11h 14m 37.002s[2] |
| Declination | +12° 49′ 04.87″[2] |
| Redshift | 627[3] km/s |
| Distance | 20.5 Mly (6.28 Mpc)[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.0[1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA(s)0/a[4] |
| Apparent size (V) | 5.2′ × 1.9′[1] |
| Other designations | |
| NGC 3593, UGC 6272, PGC 34257[4] | |
This galaxy is known to contain two counter-rotating populations of stars—that is, one set of stars is rotating in the opposite direction with respect to the other.[6] One means for this to occur is by acquiring gas from an external source, which then undergoes star formation. An alternative is by a merger with a second galaxy. Neither scenario has been ruled out. The age of the lower mass, counter-rotating population is younger by about 1.6 ± 0.8 Gyr than the primary star population of the galaxy.[7]
A dynamical study found that there is likely a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of NGC 3593. The mass of the SMBH is between 3.0×105 and 4.3×106 solar masses.[6]
See also
- Messier 65 – spiral galaxy in Leo Triplet
- Messier 66 – barred spiral galaxy in Leo Triplet
- NGC 3628 – spiral galaxy in Leo Triplet
