NGC 4068
Dwarf irregular galaxy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 4068 is an irregular galaxy located 4.36 megaparsecs (14.2 million light-years[1] away in the Ursa Major constellation.[2] It was discovered on 12 April 1789 by William Herschel using a 18.7-inch f/13 speculum reflector telescope.[3][4]
| NGC 4068 | |
|---|---|
A picture of the NGC 4068 galaxy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. | |
| Observation data | |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Right ascension | 12h 04m 2.49s |
| Declination | +52° 35′ 26″ |
| Distance | 4.36 Mpc (14.2 Mly) |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 13.3 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Dwarf Irregular Galaxy (dIrr) |
| Size | 10,000–12,000 ly (3,100–3,700 pc) |
| Other designations | |
| IC 757, LEDA 38148, MCG+09-20-079, UGC 7047, II 781, GC 2692 | |
Characteristics
NGC 4068 is a dwarf irregular galaxy 10,000–12,000 light-years in diameter.[3] As is the case with most observed galaxies of its type, 4068 has low-metallicity.[1] It is currently undergoing a starburst.[2][5]
Observations
In 2014–2015, researchers using SCORPIO-2 obtained the first two spectroscopic observations of an object later dubbed Object #A.[1] Said object was later observed again twice in 2020 using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS). Researchers consider the central star in Object #A to be a single star due to TDS observations, excluding the possibility of it being a cluster-ionizing nebula. They hypothesize said star to be 70–80 M☉ and in the late stage of its evolution, with the most likely categorization being a Wolf–Rayet star.[1]