NGC 5005, also known as Caldwell 29, is an inclined spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy has a relatively bright nucleus and a bright disk that contains multiple dust lanes.[3] The galaxy's high surface brightness makes it an object that is visible to amateur astronomers using large amateur telescopes.
Distance measurements for NGC 5005 vary from 13.7 megaparsecs (45 million light-years) to 34.6 megaparsecs (113 million light-years), averaging about 20 megaparsecs (65 million light-years).[2]
Supernova
One supernova has been observed in NGC 5005: SN 1996ai (type Ia, mag. 14.5) was discovered by Claudio Bottari on 16 June 1996.[4][5]
X-ray observations of NGC 5005 have revealed that it contains a variable, point-like hard X-ray source in its nucleus.[7] These results imply that NGC 5005 contains a supermassive black hole. The strong, variable X-ray emission is characteristic of the emission expected from the hot, compressed gas in the environment outside a black hole in an active galactic nucleus.
Companion galaxy
NGC 5005 and the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5033 comprise a physical galaxy pair.[8] The two galaxies weakly influence each other gravitationally, but they are not yet close enough to each other to be distorted by the tidal forces of the gravitational interaction.
Notes
^R. W. Sinnott, ed. (1988). The Complete New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters by J. L. E. Dreyer. Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-933346-51-2.
^G. Helou; E. E. Salpeter; Y. Terzian (1982). "Neutral hydrogen in binary and multiple galaxies". Astronomical Journal. 87: 1443–1464. Bibcode:1982AJ.....87.1443H. doi:10.1086/113235.