NGC 6264
Galaxy in the constellation Hercules
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NGC 6264 is an active Seyfert galaxy located in the constellation of Hercules. The redshift of the galaxy is (z) 0.033[1] and it was first discovered in June 1864 by the German astronomer Albert Marth who described it as having a magnitude of 15 and is faint, small and also round.[3] This galaxy is known to host a triple peaked water megamaser.[4][5][6]
| NGC 6264 | |
|---|---|
SDSS image of NGC 6264 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Hercules |
| Right ascension | 16h 57m 16.12s[1] |
| Declination | +27° 50′ 58.56″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.033840[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 10,145 ± 2 km/s[1] |
| Distance | 495.3 ± 34.7 Mly (151.85 ± 10.63 Mpc)[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 14.7[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Sb Sy2[1] |
| Size | ~154,000 ly (47.3 kpc) (estimated)[1] |
| Other designations | |
| CGCG 169-015, MCG +05-40-009, IRAS-L 16552+2755, PGC 59306, UCM 1655+2755, WBL 625-001[1] | |
Description
NGC 6264 is categorized as a barred spiral galaxy of Type Sb or Type Sc+. The nucleus of this galaxy is known to be active and is classified as a Type 2 Seyfert galaxy.[7][8][9] The galaxy contains signatures of water maser emission with its own circumnuclear disk warped slightly and also having a thin appearance. The position angle of the disk is -85° and the inclination angle is 90°. The disk's inner and outer radius are 0.18 and 0.77 parsecs respectively.[10] The estimated mass of the Keplerian disk is 0.42 ± 0.03 x 107 Mʘ.[11]
A study has found the supermassive black hole lying in the center of NGC 6264 has a mass of 3.09 ± 0.42 x 107 Mʘ. The maser features have different acceleration ranges, with the masers in one of the clump features having velocities higher than at least 7 kilometers per second per year. In another clump, the masers have an acceleration of 3.96 ± 1.77 kilometers per second per year.[12] The total star formation of the galaxy is estimated to be around 1.4 Mʘ per year. Further evidence also suggests the active galactic nucleus (AGN) is Compton thick.[6] The bolometric luminosity of the AGN is 45.55 erg s-1.[4]