NGC 4660

NGC 4660 is an elliptical galaxy located about 63 million light-years away[2] in the constellation Virgo.[3] The galaxy was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784[4] and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.[5][6]

NGC 4660
HST image of NGC 4660.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension12h 44m 32.0s[1]
Declination11° 11′ 26″[1]
Redshift0.003612[1]
Helio radial velocity1083 km/s[1]
Distance63 Mly (19.2 Mpc)[1]
Group or clusterVirgo Cluster
Apparent magnitude (V)12.16[1]
Characteristics
TypeE5[1]
Size~39,500 ly (12.10 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)2.2 x 1.6[1]
Other designations
CGCG 71-23, MCG 2-33-6, PGC 42917, UGC 7914, VCC 2000[1]

NGC 4660 forms a tight pair with Messier 59.[7]

Tidal filament

A long tidal filament was detected associated with NGC 4660. This appears to indicate a past gravitational interaction with another galaxy. The progenitor galaxy that may have produced the filament associated with NGC 4660 was a gas-rich spiral. Alternatively, the detection of tidal dwarf galaxies[6] (TDGs) which are “recycled” low-mass galaxies formed from interactions or mergers[8] suggest that the filament originated from a possible satellite galaxy that got stripped during its closest approach in its orbit to NGC 4660. This would make the filament a tidal stream comparable to the stream associated with the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy of the Milky Way.[6]

Supermassive Black Hole

NGC 4660 may have a supermassive black hole with an estimated mass of 800 million suns (8×108 M☉).[9]

See also

References
  1. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 4660. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  2. "Your NED Search Results". ned.ipac.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  3. information@eso.org. "NGC 4660 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  4. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 4650 - 4699". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  5. Binggeli, B.; Sandage, A.; Tammann, G. A. (1985-09-01). "Studies of the Virgo Cluster. II - A catalog of 2096 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster area". The Astronomical Journal. 90: 1681–1759. Bibcode:1985AJ.....90.1681B. doi:10.1086/113874. ISSN 0004-6256.
  6. Kemp, S. N.; Martínez-Robles, C.; Márquez-Lugo, R. A.; Zepeda-García, D.; Franco-Hernández, R.; A. Nigoche-Netro; Ramos-Larios, G.; Navarro, S. G.; Corral, L. J. (2016). "The Tidal Filament of NGC 4660". The Astrophysical Journal. 830 (2): 66. arXiv:1607.04670. Bibcode:2016ApJ...830...66K. doi:10.3847/0004-637x/830/2/66. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 118805307.
  7. Mamon, G. A. (2008-07-01). "The nature of the nearest compact group of galaxies from precise distance measurements". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 486 (1): 113–117. arXiv:0803.3181. Bibcode:2008A&A...486..113M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200809827. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 3994849.
  8. "Galaxy Recycling: the Origins of Tidal Dwarf Galaxies | Department of Astronomy". astronomy.case.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  9. Pechetti, Renuka; Seth, Anil; Cappellari, Michele; McDermid, Richard; Brok, Mark den; Mieske, Steffen; Strader, Jay (2017-11-13). "Detection of Enhanced Central Mass-to-light Ratios in Low-mass Early-type Galaxies: Evidence for Black Holes?". The Astrophysical Journal. 850 (1): 15. arXiv:1709.09172. Bibcode:2017ApJ...850...15P. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa9021. ISSN 1538-4357. S2CID 119357906.


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