NGC 5850
Galaxy in the constellation Virgo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 5850 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 2,735 ± 13 km/s,[2] which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 40.3 ± 2.8 Mpc (~131 million ly).[3] NGC 5850 was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 24 February 1786.[4]
| NGC 5850 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 15h 07m 07.6796s[1] |
| Declination | +01° 32′ 39.362″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.008489[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 2545 ± 2 km/s[1] |
| Distance | 131.5 ± 9.2 Mly (40.33 ± 2.83 Mpc)[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 11.5 |
| Surface brightness | 23 mag/arcsec2 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SB(r)b[1] |
| Size | ~88,700 ly (27.20 kpc) (estimated)[1] |
| Apparent size (V) | 4.5′ × 3.9′[1] |
| Other designations | |
| IRAS 15045+0144, UGC 9715, MCG +00-39-002, PGC 53979, CGCG 021-006[1] | |
References: List of NGC objects (5001-6000) | |
Characteristics
The luminosity class of NGC 5850 is II and it has a broad HI1 line.[5] It is also classified a LINER galaxy; a galaxy whose nucleus presents an emission spectrum characterized by broad lines of weakly ionized atoms.[6][7]
To date, seven non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 18.7 ± 1.75 Mpc (~61 million ly), which is far outside the Hubble distance values.[1] Note that it is with the average value of independent measurements, when they exist, that the NASA/IPAC database calculates the diameter of a galaxy and that consequently the diameter of NGC 5850 could be approximately 58.7 kpc (~191,000 ly) if we used the Hubble distance to calculate it.[8]
Morphology
NGC 5850 was used by Gérard de Vaucouleurs as a galaxy of morphological type SB(r)b in his galaxy atlas.[9][10] It is classified as a prototype double-barred system early-type spiral galaxy by other studies as well.[11][12]
In 2002, Eskridge, Frogel and Pogge published a paper, describing the morphology of 205 closely spaced spiral galaxies. The observations were carried out in the H band of infrared and in the B band (blue). According to Eskridge and his colleagues, NGC 5850 is a spiral galaxy of type SB(r)ab in the B band and type SB(r)0/a in the H band. The isophotes of the outer bulb are almost circular. The nucleus appears elliptical. The bulb is crossed by a very long bar with ansae at its end. The bar is inclined at 60 degrees to the interior bulb. A complete inner ring is formed at the end of the bar and beyond there is a faint spiral structure. The spiral arms appear to form an incomplete outer pseudo-ring.[13] One of these spiral arms of NGC 5850 appears broken, likely caused by an interaction with a north-west object.[14]
Possible galaxy pair?
NGC 5850 is close to its neighbor, NGC 5846. However, the distance between them is exactly 40 million light-years. Although they not a physical pair, it is possible that the two galaxies might have experienced a high-speed encounter around 200 million years ago.[15]
Supernova
See also
- NGC 5846, thought to have caused creation of NGC 5850[5]
- List of NGC objects (5001–6000)