| NGC 3079 | |
| Type: | SB(s)c[1] |
| Dist Ly: | 50 Mly[2] |
| Z: | 1116 ± 1 km/s |
| Appmag V: | 11.5 |
| Size V: | 7.9 × 1.4 |
| Size: | ~41.58kpc (estimated) |
| Constellation Name: | Ursa Major |
NGC 3079 is a barred spiral galaxy about 50 million light-years away, and located in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 1 April 1790.[3]
A prominent feature of this galaxy is the "bubble" forming in the very center (see picture below). The supermassive black hole at the core has a mass of .
The SIMBAD database lists NGC3079 as a Seyfert II Galaxy, i.e. it has a quasar-like nucleus with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, the host galaxy is clearly detectable.[4]
NGC 3079 is the namesake of the NGC 3079 Group (also known as LGG 188), which contains six galaxies.[5] The other galaxies in the group are NGC 3073, UGC 5421, UGC 5479, UGC 5459, and UGC 5460.[6] The galaxies NGC 3073 and NGC 3079 are also listed together as Holm 156 in Erik Holmberg's A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems, published in 1937.[7]
Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 3079: SN 2001ci (type Ic, mag. 18.3),[8] and SN 2013ee (type II, mag. 15.5).[9]
The bubble forming in the center of NGC 3079 is believed to be about 3000 light-years wide and to rise more than 3500 light-years above the disc of the galaxy. It is speculated that the bubble is being formed by particles streaming at high speeds, which were in turn caused by a large burst of star formation. This current bubble is thought to have been created about one million years ago, and computer modeling suggests that there is an ongoing cycle of forming bubbles, with a new bubble forming approximately every 10 million years.