NGC 3977 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 5,975±13 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 287.4 ± 20.1 Mly (88.13 ± 6.17 Mpc).[1] It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 13 April 1784.[2] It was also observed by Lewis Swift on 16 April 1885, causing this galaxy to be listed twice in the New General Catalogue, as both NGC 3977 and NGC 3980.[2]
NGC 3977 along with NGC 3972 are listed together as Holm 304 in Erik Holmberg's A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems, published in 1937.[3] This grouping is purely optical, as NGC 3977 is about four times farther away than NGC 3972.[4]
The SIMBAD database lists NGC 3977 as a LINER galaxy, i.e. a galaxy whose nucleus has an emission spectrum characterized by broad lines of weakly ionized atoms.[5]
Supernovae
Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 3977:
- SN 1946A (type unknown, mag. 18) was discovered by Edwin Hubble in May 1946.[6]
- SN 2006gs (type II, mag. 17.0) was discovered by Kōichi Itagaki on 22 September 2006.[7][8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Results for object NGC 3977". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. NASA and Caltech. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue Objects: NGC 3977". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Holmberg, Erik (1937). "A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems". Annals of the Observatory of Lund. 6: 1. Bibcode:1937AnLun...6....1H.
- ^ "Distance Results for NGC 3972". NASA/IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE. NASA. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "NGC 3977". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "SN 1946A". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Frieman, J.; Prasad, R. R.; Li, W.; Itagaki, K.; Nakano, S.; Quimby, R.; Mondol, P.; Puckett, T.; Pelloni, A.; Winslow, D. (2006). "Supernovae 2006gk-2006gz". International Astronomical Union Circular (8754): 1. Bibcode:2006IAUC.8754....1F.
- ^ "SN 2006gs". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
External links
Media related to NGC 3977 at Wikimedia Commons- NGC 3977 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
You must be logged in to post a comment.