NGC 3621

NGC 3621 is a field spiral galaxy about 22 Mly (6.7 Mpc) away[4][5] in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. It is comparatively bright and can be well seen in moderate-sized telescopes. The galaxy is around 93,000 ly (29,000 pc) across and is inclined at an angle of 25° from being viewed edge on. It shines with a luminosity equal to 13 billion times that of the Sun.[6] The morphological classification is SA(s)d,[1] which indicates this is an ordinary spiral with loosely wound arms.[7] There is no evidence for a bulge.[8] Although it appears to be isolated,[7] NGC 3621 belongs to the Leo spur.[6]

NGC 3621
NGC 3621 taken by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO's La Silla Observatory
Credit: ESO and Joe DePasquale
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationHydra
Right ascension11h 18m 16.52s[1]
Declination–32° 48′ 50.7″[1]
Redshift0.002435 ± 0.000007[2]
Helio radial velocity+727[3] km/s
Distance21.7 million light years (6.64 Mpc)[4]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.0
Characteristics
TypeSA(s)d[1]
Mass2 × 1010[1] M☉

This galaxy has an active nucleus that matches a Seyfert 2 optical spectrum, suggesting that a low mass supermassive black hole is present at the core. Based upon the motion of stars in the nucleus, this object may have a mass of up to three million times the mass of the Sun.[8]

References
  1. Bresolin, Fabio; Kennicutt, Robert C.; Ryan-Weber, Emma (May 2012), "Gas Metallicities in the Extended Disks of NGC 1512 and NGC 3621. Chemical Signatures of Metal Mixing or Enriched Gas Accretion?", The Astronomical Journal, 750 (2): 122, arXiv:1203.0956, Bibcode:2012ApJ...750..122B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/122.
  2. Koribalski, B. S.; et al. (July 2004), "The 1000 Brightest HIPASS Galaxies: H I Properties", The Astronomical Journal, 128 (1): 16–46, arXiv:astro-ph/0404436, Bibcode:2004AJ....128...16K, doi:10.1086/421744.
  3. Tully, R. Brent; Shaya, Edward J.; Karachentsev, Igor D.; Courtois, Hélène M.; Kocevski, Dale D.; Rizzi, Luca; Peel, Alan (January 1995), "Recalibration of the H–0.5 magnitudes of spiral galaxies", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 96 (1): 123–157, arXiv:astro-ph/9405047, Bibcode:1995ApJS...96..123T, doi:10.1086/192115.
  4. Tully, R. Brent; et al. (March 2008), "Our Peculiar Motion Away from the Local Void", The Astrophysical Journal, 676 (1): 184–205, arXiv:0705.4139, Bibcode:2008ApJ...676..184T, doi:10.1086/527428.
  5. Materne, J. (April 1979). "The structure of nearby groups of galaxies - Quantitative membership probabilities". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 74 (2): 235–243. Bibcode:1979A&A....74..235M.
  6. O'Meara, Stephen James (2013), Deep-Sky Companions: Southern Gems, Cambridge University Press, p. 203, Bibcode:2013dcsg.book.....O, ISBN 978-1107015012.
  7. Buta, Ronald J.; Corwin, Harold G.; Odewahn, Stephen C. (2007), Atlas of Galaxies, Cambridge University Press, pp. 13–17, ISBN 978-0521820486.
  8. Barth, Aaron J.; Strigari, Louis E.; Bentz, Misty C.; Greene, Jenny E.; Ho, Luis C. (January 2009), "Dynamical Constraints on the Masses of the Nuclear Star Cluster and Black Hole in the Late-Type Spiral Galaxy NGC 3621", The Astronomical Journal, 690 (1): 1031–1044, arXiv:0809.1066, Bibcode:2009ApJ...690.1031B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/690/1/1031.
  9. "A special spiral galaxy for over 200 000 Facebook fans". Hubble Space Telescope – Picture of the Week. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  10. "A galaxy full of surprises — NGC 3621 is bulgeless but has three central black holes". European Southern Observatory – Picture of the Week. Retrieved 23 January 2020.


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