NGC 5953 explained

NGC 5953
Epoch:J2000
Type:SAa: pec [1]
Dist Ly:78 ± 15 Mly (26 ± 4.7 Mpc)
Z:0.006555 ± 0.000020
H Radial V:1965 ± 6 km/s
Appmag V:13.0
Size V:1.35 × 1.16
Constellation Name:Serpens
Notes:interacting galaxy, Seyfert galaxy
Names:UGC 9903, Arp 91B, VV 244a, MRK 9031, MCG +03-40-005, PGC 55480

NGC 5953 is a peculiar spiral galaxy in the constellation Serpens. The galaxy lies about 80 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 5953 is approximately 35,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 17, 1784.[2] NGC 5953 interacts with NGC 5954 forming a pair known as Arp 91.[3]

Characteristics

NGC 5953 is an unbarred spiral galaxy seen face on with many dust lanes. Two tidal plumes are visible, one to the northwest and one to the south of the galaxy.[4] The spiral arms are flocculent and appear fragmented and are associated with star formation regions.[5]

The galaxy has recently undergone intense star formation in the circumnuclear region around the nucleus where there are huge HII regions, probably as a result of its interaction with NGC 5954.[6] The large HII region has been found to emit radio waves, appearing as a discrete source 5 arcseconds from the nucleus. A circumnuclear star ring with a diameter of 10–14 arcseconds is visible, which coincides with a disk of CO gas. Based on near infrared observations the ring hosts a red giant but not hot gas.[7] The total star formation rate of the galaxy is estimated to be 2.56 ± 0.1 per year.[8]

Active nucleus

The nucleus of the galaxy has been found to be active and it is categorised as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy[9] or as a LINER.[10] The most accepted theory for the energy source of active galactic nuclei is the presence of an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. The black hole in the nucleus of NGC 5953 is estimated to have a mass of based on velocity dispersion.[11]

A jet is visible to the north of the nucleus in radio waves extending for 0.3 arcseconds, which corresponds to a projected distance of 40 parsecs in the distance of the galaxy.[12]

Nearby galaxies

NGC 5953 forms a pair with another spiral galaxy, NGC 5954, which lies 43 arcminutes away.[9] The interaction has distorted NGC 5954.[3] The pair is part of the NGC 5962 group or LGG 400. Other members of the group, apart from NGC 5962, include UGC 9925 and UGC 9951. A bit further away lie NGC 5951, NGC 5956, and NGC 5957.[13] [14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . Results for NGC 5953 . 2024-03-26 .
  2. Web site: Seligman . Courtney . NGC 5953 (with NGC 5954 = Arp 91) (= PGC 55480 = PGC 1477680 = UGC 9903 = CGCG 107-008: = MCG +03-40-005) . Celestial Atlas . 19 November 2018.
  3. Web site: A Dangerous Dance . www.spacetelescope.org . 4 October 2021 . 27 March 2024 . en.
  4. Iono . Daisuke . Yun . Min S. . Ho . Paul T. P. . Atomic and Molecular Gas in Colliding Galaxy Systems. I. The Data . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . May 2005 . 158 . 1 . 1–37 . 10.1086/429093. astro-ph/0501588 .
  5. Martini . Paul . Regan . Michael W. . Mulchaey . John S. . Pogge . Richard W. . Circumnuclear Dust in Nearby Active and Inactive Galaxies. I. Data . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . June 2003 . 146 . 2 . 353–406 . 10.1086/367817.
  6. Gonzalez Delgado . R. M. . Perez . E. . The circumnuclear region in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5953 . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 1 August 1996 . 281 . 3 . 781–798 . 10.1093/mnras/281.3.781.
  7. Casasola . V. . Hunt . L. K. . Combes . F. . García-Burillo . S. . Boone . F. . Eckart . A. . Neri . R. . Schinnerer . E. . Molecular gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) XIII. The interacting Seyfert 2/LINER galaxy NGC 5953 . Astronomy and Astrophysics . February 2010 . 510 . A52 . 10.1051/0004-6361/200913056. 0911.3772 .
  8. Gruppioni . C . Berta . S . Spinoglio . L . Pereira-Santaella . M . Pozzi . F . Andreani . P . Bonato . M . De Zotti . G . Malkan . M . Negrello . M . Vallini . L . Vignali . C . Erratum: Tracing black hole accretion with SED decomposition and IR lines: from local galaxies to the high-z Universe . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 21 June 2018 . 477 . 2 . 2815–2816 . 10.1093/mnras/sty772.
  9. Rafanelli . P. . Osterbrock . D. E. . Pogge . R. W. . The optical counterpart of the radio source close to the Seyfert 2 nucleus of NGC 5953 = ARP 91 B . The Astronomical Journal . January 1990 . 99 . 53 . 10.1086/115312.
  10. Veilleux . S. . Kim . D.-C. . Sanders . D. B. . Mazzarella . J. M. . Soifer . B. T. . Optical Spectroscopy of Luminous Infrared Galaxies. II. Analysis of the Nuclear and Long-Slit Data . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . May 1995 . 98 . 171 . 10.1086/192158.
  11. McElroy . Douglas B. . A Catalog of Stellar Velocity Dispersions. II. 1994 Update . The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series . September 1995 . 100 . 105 . 10.1086/192209.
  12. Krips . M. . Eckart . A. . Krichbaum . T. P. . Pott . J.-U. . Leon . S. . Neri . R. . García-Burillo . S. . Combes . F. . Boone . F. . Baker . A. J. . Tacconi . L. J. . Schinnerer . E. . Hunt . L. K. . NUclei of GAlaxies: V. Radio emission in 7 NUGA sources . Astronomy & Astrophysics . March 2007 . 464 . 2 . 553–563 . 10.1051/0004-6361:20065037. astro-ph/0612772 .
  13. Makarov. Dmitry. Karachentsev. Igor. Galaxy groups and clouds in the local (z~ 0.01) Universe. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 21 April 2011. 412. 4. 2498–2520. 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18071.x. 2011MNRAS.412.2498M. 1011.6277. 119194025. 20 March 2017. 31 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160131020344/http://www.sao.ru/hq/dim/groups/galaxies.dat. dead.
  14. Garcia . A. M. . General study of group membership. II. Determination of nearby groups. . Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series . 1 July 1993 . 100 . 47–90 . 1993A&AS..100...47G . 0365-0138.

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