Astronomy:NGC 3974

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NGC 3974
NGC 3974 imaged by Pan-STARRS
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationCrater
Right ascension 11h 55m 40.174s[1]
Declination−12° 01′ 38.431″[1]
Redshift0.019133[1]
Helio radial velocity5736 ± 32 km/s[1]
Distance293.4 ± 20.7 Mly (89.96 ± 6.34 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)13.4[1]
Characteristics
Type(R')SB0/a?(r)[1]
Size~80,500 ly (24.67 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)1.2′ × 1.1′[1][1]
Other designations
MCG-02-31-001, PGC 37452[1]

NGC 3974 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Crater. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 6099 ± 41 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 89.96 ± 6.34 Mpc (~293 million light-years).[1] However, one non-redshift measurement gives a much closer distance of 56.6 Mpc (185 Mly).[2] It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 9 March 1828.[3]

NGC 3974 is possibly a LINER galaxy, i.e. it has a type of nucleus that is defined by its spectral line emission which has weakly ionized or neutral atoms, while the spectral line emission from strongly ionized atoms is relatively weak.[1]

One supernova has been observed in NGC 3974: SN 2024gra (Type Ia, mag. 18.8625) was discovered by the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) on 16 April 2024.[4]

See also

References