NGC 4945
NGC 4945 (also known as Caldwell 83) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Centaurus, visible near the star Xi Centauri. The galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826 and is thought to be similar to the Milky Way Galaxy, although X-ray observations show that NGC 4945 has an unusual energetic Seyfert 2 nucleus that might house a supermassive black hole. Around the nucleus of the galaxy, there is a dense disk of dust and gas, along with many dense star clusters. This object has an estimated mass of 1.4+1.4
−0.7×1011 M☉.
| NGC 4945 | |
|---|---|
NGC 4945 image take by the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla Observatory | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Right ascension | 13h 05m 27.5s |
| Declination | −49° 28′ 06″ |
| Redshift | 563 ± 3 km/s |
| Distance | 11.7 Mly (3.6 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.3 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SB(s)cd |
| Apparent size (V) | 20.0′ × 3.8′ |
| Other designations | |
| PGC 45279, Caldwell 83 | |
Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 4945: SN 2005af (Type II, mag. 12.8), and SN 2011ja (type IIP, mag. 14).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.