NGC 3610

NGC 3610
Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 3610, showing its disk
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationUrsa Major
Right ascension11h 18m 25.276s[1]
Declination+58° 47′ 10.49″[1]
Redshift0.005694[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity1,732 km/s[3]
Galactocentric velocity1,819 km/s[3]
Distance106 Mly (32.5 Mpc)[4]
Apparent magnitude (B)11.63[3]
Characteristics
TypeE5:[2]
Mass1.01×1011 (stellar)[4] M☉
Size76,800 ly (23,560 pc)[2]
Apparent size (V)1.460′ × 1.168′[1] (NIR)
Other designations
NGC 3610, UGC 6319, LEDA 34566, PGC 34566[5]

NGC 3610 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.[6] It was discovered on 8 April 1793 by German-British astronomer William Herschel.[7] This galaxy is located at a distance of 106 million light-years (32.5 Mpc) from the Milky Way,[4] and is receding with a galacto-centric radial velocity of 1,819 km/s.[3]

NGC 3610 is a relatively young elliptical galaxy which has not yet lost its disk.[6] It has a morphological classification of E5,[8] indicating a 2:1 ratio between the major and minor axes of the elliptical profile. This is a candidate merger remnant of intermediate age, with a surviving disk of gas and dusk aligned with the major axis.[9] This merger is estimated to have occurred 4±2.5 Gyr ago. The central part of the disk displays warping,[8] and is significantly younger than the remainder of the galaxy.[8]

The unusual amount of blue light emission of NGC 3610, or B–V in the UBV photometric system, suggests recent star formation.[9] The current estimated star formation rate is 0.385±0.375 M☉·yr−1.[4] There is a population of younger globular clusters orbiting the galaxy that is a likely product of the merger. The surviving population of older, metal-rich globular clusters suggests that at least one of the progenitor galaxies had a prominent bulge component.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Skrutskie, Michael F.; et al. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708. ISSN 0004-6256. S2CID 18913331.
  2. ^ a b c "Results for NGC 252". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Tully, R. Brent; et al. (2016). "Cosmicflows-3". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (2). id. 50. arXiv:1605.01765. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...50T. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/2/50. S2CID 250737862.
  4. ^ a b c d Lianou, S.; et al. (November 2019). "Dust properties and star formation of approximately a thousand local galaxies". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 631. id. A38. arXiv:1906.02712. Bibcode:2019A&A...631A..38L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834553.
  5. ^ "NGC 3610". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  6. ^ a b "A young elliptical". Hubble Space Telescope. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  7. ^ Seligman, Courtney. "NGC 3610 (= PGC 34566)". cseligman. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Buson, L. M. (September 2010). "The mid-UV population of the nucleus and the bulk of the post-merger NGC 3610". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 519. id. A59. arXiv:1008.0922. Bibcode:2010A&A...519A..59B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014429.
  9. ^ a b c Howell, Justin H.; et al. (December 2004). "Probing Spectral Line Gradients beyond One Effective Radius in NGC 3610". The Astronomical Journal. 128 (6): 2749–2757. arXiv:astro-ph/0409385. Bibcode:2004AJ....128.2749H. doi:10.1086/425884.

Further reading

  • Media related to NGC 3610 at Wikimedia Commons