NGC 3599 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 14, 1784.[6] The galaxy is located at a distance of 67 million light-years (20.4 Mpc) from the Sun.[4] NGC 3599 is a member of the Leo II group of galaxies[4] in the Virgocentric flow.[7]
| NGC 3599 | |
|---|---|
 NGC 3599 by Sloan Digital Sky Survey | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Leo |
| Right ascension | 11h 15m 26.949s[1] |
| Declination | +18° 06′ 37.43″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.00277[2] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 876±18 km/s[3] |
| Distance | 67 Mly (20.4 Mpc)[4] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.178 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA0:[4] |
| Other designations | |
| NGC 3599, UGC 6281, MCG +03-29-015, PGC 34326[5] | |
The morphological classification of NGC 3599 is SA0:,[4] which indicates this is a lenticular galaxy but with some uncertainty in the classification. There is a weak ring structure 45″ to 71″ from the nucleus, and a small bar about 11″ in length.[8] The galaxy is inclined at an angle of 28° to the plane of the sky,[4] so it is being viewed from nearly face-on. The nucleus is compact and not associated with any non-thermal activity.[4] Although not optically active, NGC 3599 is classified as a Seyfert 2 or a LINER-type galaxy.[9] The mass of the central black hole is estimated at (1.3±0.6)×106 M☉.[4]
In 2003, a sudden rise in X-ray emission from NGC 3599 was observed by the XMM-Newton space observatory. Follow-up observations showed a rapid decay in flux during the following years. This was originally suggested as a candidate tidal disruption event but it may instead have been caused by thermal instability of the accretion disk orbiting a black hole.[9]
References
External links
Media related to NGC 3599 at Wikimedia Commons
