NGC 3972

NGC 3972
NGC 3972 imaged by tne Hubble Space Telescope.[1]
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Ursa Major
Right ascension	11^h 55^m 45.1^s[2]
Declination	+55° 19′ 14″[2]
Redshift	0.002799[3]
Heliocentric radial velocity	846 km/s[2]
Distance	66.0 Mly (20.23 Mpc)[2]
Group or cluster	NGC 3992 Group[4]
Apparent magnitude (V)	13.14[3]
Characteristics
Type	SA(s)bc,[5] SBbc[6]
Size	c. 50,000 ly
Other designations
IRAS 11531+5535, 2MASX J11554511+5519144, UGC 6904, LEDA 37466, MCG +09-20-032[3]

NGC 3972 is a spiral galaxy located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789.[7] This galaxy is located 66 million light years away and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 846 km/s.[2] It is a member of the NGC 3992 Group of galaxies.[4]

NGC 3972 with NGC 3977

NGC 3972 along with NGC 3977 are listed together as Holm 304 in Erik Holmberg's A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems, published in 1937.[8] This grouping is purely optical, as NGC 3977 is about four times farther away than NGC 3972.[9]

NGC 3972 is a radio galaxy, i.e. a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond its visible structure.[10]

Supernovae

Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 3972:

• SN 2011by (type Ia, mag. 14.2) was discovered by Zhangwei Jin and Xing Gao in China, on 27 April 2011.[11][12] It was ten days short of maximum, and positioned at an offset 5.3″ east and 19.1″ north of the galactic nucleus.[13]
• SN 2021acna (type II, mag. 19.39) was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility on 30 October 2021.[14]

Gallery

• 
  NGC 3972 by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

See also

• List of NGC objects (3001–4000)

References

1. "Galaxy full of cosmic lighthouses". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
2. Tully, R. Brent; et al. (2016). "Cosmicflows-3". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (2): 21. arXiv:1605.01765. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...50T. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/2/50. S2CID 250737862. 50.
3. "NGC 3972". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
4. Karachentsev, I. D.; et al. (March 2013). "Anatomy of Ursa Majoris". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 429 (3): 2264–2273. arXiv:1211.5975. Bibcode:2013MNRAS.429.2264K. doi:10.1093/mnras/sts494.
5. "Results for object NGC 3972 (NGC 3972)". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
6. Paturel, G.; et al. (December 2003). "HYPERLEDA. I. Identification and designation of galaxies". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 412: 45–55. Bibcode:2003A&A...412...45P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031411.
7. Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 3950 - 3999". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
8. Holmberg, Erik (1937). "A Study of Double and Multiple Galaxies Together with Inquiries into some General Metagalactic Problems". Annals of the Observatory of Lund. 6: 1. Bibcode:1937AnLun...6....1H.
9. "Distance Results for NGC 3972". NASA/IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE. NASA. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
10. "NGC 3972". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
11. Green, D. W. E. (2011). "Supernova 2011by in NGC 3972 = PSN J11554556+5519338". Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams. 2708: 1. Bibcode:2011CBET.2708....1G.
12. "SN 2011by". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
13. Boyd, David (September 2011). "SN 2011BY - A Type 1A Supernova in NGC 3972 Discovered before maximum". British Astronomical Association Variable Star Section Circular. 149 (149): 10–12. Bibcode:2011BAAVC.149...10B.
14. "SN 2021acna". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 4 September 2024.

External links

• Media related to NGC 3972 at Wikimedia Commons
• NGC 3972 on SIMBAD