NGC 4666

NGC 4666 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo, located at a distance of approximately 55 megalight-years from the Milky Way.[3] It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. John L. E. Dreyer described it as "bright, very large, much extended 45°±, pretty suddenly brighter middle".[6] It is a member of an interacting system with NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy,[7] and belongs to a small group that also includes NGC 4632.[2]

NGC 4666
The superwind galaxy NGC 4666.
Credit: ESO/J. Dietrich..
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationVirgo
Right ascension12h 45m 08.676s[1]
Declination−00° 27′ 42.88″[1]
Helio radial velocity1,517 km/s[2]
Distance54.89 ± 0.65 Mly (16.83 ± 0.20 Mpc)[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.8[4]
Characteristics
TypeSABc[2]
Apparent size (V)4′.6 × 1'.3[2]
Notable featuresStarburst
Other designations
NGC 4666, IRAS F12425-0011, MCG+00-33-008, MRC 1242-001, PMN J1245-0027, UGC 7926, UZC J124508.0-002744[5]

The morphological classification of this galaxy is SABc, which indicates a weak bar around the nucleus with moderately wound spiral arms. Viewed nearly edge-on, its galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 85°±2° to the line of sight from the Earth, with the major axis aligned along a position angle of 40°. There is an active galactic nucleus that shows a modest level of activity and is most likely heavily obscured by gas and dust. The central point source has been detected in the radio and X-ray bands.[2]

This is a starburst galaxy that is noteworthy for its vigorous star formation, which creates an unusual superwind[8] of out-flowing gas. This wind is not visible at optical wavelengths, but is prominent in X-rays, and has been observed by the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope.[9] The estimated star formation rate is 7.3 M☉ yr–1, with a density of 8.9×10−3 M☉ yr−1 kpc−2. Unlike in many other starburst galaxies, the star formation is spread across the disk rather than being more concentrated.[2]

A type Ia supernova was detected in NGC 4666 on 9 December 2014;[10][11] ASASSN-14lp is located 12″ from the center of NGC 4666. A type Ib supernova, SN 2019yvr, was detected on 27 December 2019.[12] It has a 0.005 redshift.

References
  1. Skrutskie, M. F.; et al. (2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi:10.1086/498708.
  2. Stein, Y.; et al. (March 2019). "CHANG-ES. XIII. Transport processes and the magnetic fields of NGC 4666: indication of a reversing disk magnetic field". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 623: 21. arXiv:1901.08090. Bibcode:2019A&A...623A..33S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834515. A33.
  3. Tully, R. Brent; et al. (October 2013), "Cosmicflows-2: The Data", The Astronomical Journal, 146 (4): 25, arXiv:1307.7213, Bibcode:2013AJ....146...86T, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/146/4/86, 86
  4. "The Interactive NGC Catalog Online". Results for NGC 4666. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  5. "NGC 4666". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  6. Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 4650 - 4699". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  7. Walter, Fabian; et al. (May 2004). "The Superwind Galaxy NGC 4666: Gravitational Interactions and the Influence of the Resulting Starburst on the Interstellar Medium". The Astrophysical Journal. 606 (1): 258–270. Bibcode:2004ApJ...606..258W. doi:10.1086/382774.
  8. "The Superwind Galaxy". ESO. 1 September 2010.
  9. "Extra-planar Hot Gas and Magnetic Fields in the Superwind Galaxy NGC 4666". ESA. 24 February 2011.
  10. "ASAS-SN Discovery of A Bright Probable Supernova in NGC 4666". Astronomer's Telegram.
  11. "Supernovae ASASSN-14lp in NGC 4666". Rochester Astronomy.
  12. "SN 2019xvr". Transient Name Server.
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