NGC 5253

NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.[4]

NGC 5253
NGC 5253 is one of the nearest of the known Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies[1]
Observation data
ConstellationCentaurus
Right ascension13h 39m 55.9s[2]
Declination−31° 38′ 24″[2]
Redshift407 ± 3 km/s[2]
Distance10.9 ± 0.6 Mly (3.33 ± 0.17 Mpc)[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.9[2]
Characteristics
TypeIm pec[2]
Apparent size (V)5′.0 × 1′.9[2]
Other designations
UGCA 369,[2] PGC 48334,[2] Haro 10[2]

Properties

NGC 5253 is located within the M83 Subgroup of the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a relatively nearby galaxy group that includes the radio galaxy Centaurus A and the spiral galaxy M83 (the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy).

NGC 5253 is considered a dwarf starburst galaxy[5] and also a blue compact galaxy.[6] Supernova 1972E, the second-brightest recent supernova visible from Earth (peak visual magnitude of 8.5, fainter only than SN 1987A in the 20th century), occurred in this galaxy.[7][8] Another supernova, SN 1895b, also has been recorded in the galaxy.[9]

Contents

NGC 5253 contains a giant dust cloud hiding a cluster (believed to be a super star cluster) of more than one million stars, among them up to 7,000 O-type stars. The cluster is 3 million years old and has a total luminosity of more than one billion suns. It is the site of efficient star formation, with a rate at least 10 times higher than comparable regions in the Milky Way.[10][11]

Wolf–Rayet stars, a class of blue, massive, and luminous stars, are present in the galaxy in such numbers that their spectra also appear in the galaxy's spectrum.[12] These types of galaxies are known Wolf–Rayet galaxies, and are fairly rare because Wolf–Rayet stars have short lives. NGC 5253 is nearest Wolf-Rayet galaxy to us.

References
  1. "A Peculiar Compact Blue Dwarf Galaxy". ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  2. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 5253. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
  3. Ferrarese, Laura; Ford, Holland C.; Huchra, John; Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.; et al. (2000). "A Database of Cepheid Distance Moduli and Tip of the Red Giant Branch, Globular Cluster Luminosity Function, Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function, and Surface Brightness Fluctuation Data Useful for Distance Determinations". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 128 (2): 431–459. arXiv:astro-ph/9910501. Bibcode:2000ApJS..128..431F. doi:10.1086/313391.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. The scientific papers of Sir William Herschel by J. L. E. Dreyer. Royal Astronomical Society London 1912.
  5. Jordan Zastrow; M.S. Oey; Sylvain Veilleux; Michael McDonald; Crystal L. Martin (2011). "An Ionization Cone in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 5253". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (1): (page needed). arXiv:1109.6360. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741L..17Z. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/741/1/L17.
  6. "Hubble Spots a Peculiar Compact Blue Dwarf Galaxy". NASA. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
  7. I. D. Karachentsev; M. E. Sharina; A. E. Dolphin; E. K. Grebel; et al. (2002). "New distances to galaxies in the Centaurus A group". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 385 (1): 21–31. Bibcode:2002A&A...385...21K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020042.
  8. I. D. Karachentsev (2005). "The Local Group and Other Neighboring Galaxy Groups". Astronomical Journal. 129 (1): 178–188. arXiv:astro-ph/0410065. Bibcode:2005AJ....129..178K. doi:10.1086/426368.
  9. Kowal, C. T.; Sargent, W. L. W. (Nov 1971). "Supernovae discovered since 1885". Astronomical Journal. 76: 756–764. Bibcode:1971AJ.....76..756K. doi:10.1086/111193.
  10. Stuart Wolpert (March 18, 2015). "More than a million stars are forming in a mysterious dusty gas cloud in a nearby galaxy" (Press release). UCLA. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.
  11. J. L. Turner; S. C. Beck; D. J. Benford; S. M. Consiglio; et al. (2015). "Highly efficient star formation in NGC 5253 possibly from stream-fed accretion". Nature. 519 (7543): 331–333. arXiv:1503.05254. Bibcode:2015Natur.519..331T. doi:10.1038/nature14218. PMID 25788096.
  12. Karthick, M. Chrisphin; López-Sánchez, Ángel R.; Sahu, D. K.; Sanwal, B. B.; Bisht, Shuchi (2014). "Photometric and spectroscopic studies of star-forming regions within Wolf-Rayet galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 439 (1): 157–178. arXiv:1311.7504. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.439..157K. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2301.
  • Media related to NGC 5253 at Wikimedia Commons
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