NGC 5996 explained

NGC 5996
Epoch:J2000
Type:SBc [1]
Dist Ly:127 ± 15 Mly (38.9 ± 4.6 Mpc)
Z:0.010998 ± 0.000007
H Radial V:3,297 ± 2 km/s
Appmag V:12.5[2]
Size V:1.58 × 0.69
Constellation Name:Serpens
Notes:Interacting galaxy
Names:UGC 10033, Arp 72, VV 16a, MRK 691, MCG +03-40-039, IRAS 15447+1802, PGC 56023

NGC 5996 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Serpens. The galaxy lies about 125 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 5996 is approximately 65,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 21, 1784.[3]

NGC 5996 forms a pair with a smaller companion galaxy, NGC 5994, which lies at a distance of about 40,000 light years. The galaxy pair is known as Arp 72. The interaction of the two galaxies has created a long and faint tidal tail about 3.8 arcminutes long curving away from the northern edge of the disk of NGC 5996 towards the east and south.[4] A hydrogen bridge has been observed between the two galaxies and hydrogen emission is also observed west of NGC 5994. The interaction has possibly induced star formation activity in NGC 5996 both in the nucleus and the disk, with a star formation rate of 1.43 per year.[5] The brightest star cluster in the galaxy is estimated to be 5 million years old.[6]

The galaxy pair is part of the NGC 5996 Group, which also includes UGC 10044 and IC 1135.[7]

One supernova has been observed in NGC 5996, ASASSN-15db, which was discovered when it had an apparent magnitude of 16.7[8] and it was categorised as a type Ia supernova five days before maximum.[9] [10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database . Results for NGC 5996 . 2024-03-26 .
  2. Web site: Revised NGC Data for NGC 5996 . spider.seds.org . 30 March 2024.
  3. Web site: Seligman . Courtney . NGC 5996 (= PGC 12041, and with PGC 12053 = Arp 279) . Celestial Atlas . 19 November 2018.
  4. Web site: Hubble Peers at Pair of Closely Interacting Galaxies . science.nasa.gov . 10 April 2024 . en.
  5. Sengupta . Chandreyee . Saikia . D. J. . Dwarakanath . K. S. . H i in Arp 72 and similarities with M51-type systems: H i in Arp 72 and M51-type systems . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 11 February 2012 . 420 . 1 . 2–9 . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19767.x. 1109.2741 .
  6. Chandar . Rupali . Leitherer . Claus . Tremonti . Christy A. . Calzetti . Daniela . Aloisi . Alessandra . Meurer . Gerhardt R. . de Mello . Duilia . The Stellar Content of Nearby Star‐forming Galaxies. III. Unravelling the Nature of the Diffuse Ultraviolet Light . The Astrophysical Journal . 20 July 2005 . 628 . 1 . 210–230 . 10.1086/430592.
  7. Dmitry Makarov. Igor Karachentsev. Galaxy groups and clouds in the local (z∼ 0.01) Universe. MNRAS. 2011. 412. 4. 2498–2520. 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18071.x. 1 January 2016. 1011.6277. 2011MNRAS.412.2498M. 119194025. 31 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160131020344/http://www.sao.ru/hq/dim/groups/galaxies.dat. dead.
  8. Holoien . T. W. -S. . Stanek . K. Z. . Kochanek . C. S. . Danilet . A. B. . Simonian . G. . Basu . U. . Goss . N. . Beacom . J. F. . Shappee . B. J. . Prieto . J. L. . Bersier . D. . Dong . Subo . Wozniak . P. R. . Falco . E. . Brimacombe . J. . Szczygiel . D. . Pojmanski . G. . ASAS-SN Discovery of A Probable Supernova in NGC 5996 . The Astronomer's Telegram . 1 February 2015 . 7078 . 1 .
  9. Zhang . Jujia . Wang . Xiaofeng . Spectroscopic Classification of ASASSN-15db as a Type Ia Supernova . The Astronomer's Telegram . 1 February 2015 . 7086 . 1 .
  10. Ochner . P. . Pastorello . A. . Benetti . S. . Cappellaro . E. . Elias-Rosa . N. . Tartaglia . L. . Terreran . G. . Tomasella . L. . Turatto . M. . Asiago spectroscopic classification of ASASSN-15db . The Astronomer's Telegram . 1 February 2015 . 7089 . 1 .

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