NGC 2683 is a field spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Lynx. It was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy" by the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory.[3][4] It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel on February 5, 1788.[5]

NGC 2683
NGC 2683, as taken by Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationLynx
Right ascension08h 52m 41.3s[1]
Declination+33° 25′ 19″[1]
Redshift411 ± 1 km/s[1]
Distance30.53 ± 0.91 Mly (9.36 ± 0.28 Mpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.6[1]
Characteristics
TypeSA(rs)b[1]
Size122 kly (37.5 kpc)[2]
Apparent size (V)9.3 × 2.2[1]
Other designations
UGC 4641,[1] PGC 24930[1]

It is viewed nearly edge-on from Earth's location in space and is located about 30 million light-years away,[2] although previous estimates also give distances between 16 and 25 million light-years.[6]

NGC 2683 is receding from Earth at 410 km/s (250 mi/s), and from the Galactic Center at 375 km/s (233 mi/s).[3]

Visibility

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The reddened light from the center of the galaxy appears yellowish due to the intervening gas and dust located within the outer arms of NGC 2683.[7] Its apparent magnitude is 10.6 making it not visible to the human eye without the aid of a small telescope.

Characteristics

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While usually considered an unbarred spiral galaxy, recent research suggests it may in fact be a barred spiral galaxy; its bar is hard to see due to its high inclination.[8] Further support for the presence of a bar stems from the X-shaped structure seen near its centre, which is thought to be associated with a buckling instability of a stellar bar.[9]

It is also both smaller and less luminous than the Milky Way with very little neutral hydrogen[10][11] or molecular hydrogen[11] and a low luminosity in the infrared, which suggests a currently low rate of star formation.[12]

NGC 2683 is rich in globular clusters, hosting about 300 of them, twice the number found in the Milky Way.[13] Due to its vast distance and complexity (due to the association of globular clusters bound to it), NGC 2638's mass has not been calculated as accurately as it could be. Otherwise its volume and vector motions are reasonably well known and characterized.

Several satellite galaxies are known in the vicinity of NGC 2683. The largest is KK 69, with a Holmberg diameter of 12,000 light-years (3.7 kiloparsecs). It is a dwarf transitional galaxy, with properties intermediate between those of dwarf irregular galaxies and dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Another is KK 70, which is about half the diameter of KK 69. Two additional dwarf galaxies are assumed to be satellites: they are N2683dw1 and N2683dw2, which are dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal galaxies, respectively.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 2683. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d Saponara, J.; Koribalski, B. S.; Patra, N. N.; Benaglia, P. (2020). "New HI observations of KK 69. Is KK 69 a dwarf galaxy in transition?". Astrophysics and Space Science. 365 (7): 111. arXiv:2006.12243. Bibcode:2020Ap&SS.365..111S. doi:10.1007/s10509-020-03825-2. S2CID 219966672.
  3. ^ a b "NGC 2683". NGC Online. SEDS. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalogue objects: NGC 2650 - 2699". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  6. ^ J. L. Tonry; A. Dressler; J. P. Blakeslee; E. A. Ajhar; et al. (2001). "The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances". Astrophysical Journal. 546 (2): 681–693. arXiv:astro-ph/0011223. Bibcode:2001ApJ...546..681T. doi:10.1086/318301. S2CID 17628238.
  7. ^ Matthews, Doug; Block, Adam (15 November 2004). "Best of AOP: NGC 2683". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  8. ^ Kuzio de Naray, Rachel; Zagursky, Matthew J.; McGaugh, Stacy S. (2009). "Kinematic and Photometric Evidence for a Bar in NGC 2683". The Astronomical Journal. 138 (4): 1082–1089. arXiv:0908.0741. Bibcode:2009AJ....138.1082K. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/138/4/1082. S2CID 18950365.
  9. ^ Bogdan C. Ciambur; Alister W. Graham (2016), Quantifying the (X/peanut)-shaped structure in edge-on disc galaxies: length, strength, and nested peanuts
  10. ^ Karachentsev, Igor D.; Karachentseva, Valentina E.; Huchtmeier, Walter K.; Makarov, Dmitry I. (2003). "A Catalog of Neighboring Galaxies". The Astronomical Journal. 127 (4): 2031–2068. Bibcode:2004AJ....127.2031K. doi:10.1086/382905.
  11. ^ a b Bettoni, D.; Galletta, G.; García-Burillo, S. (2003). "A new catalogue of ISM content in normal galaxies". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 405: 5–14. arXiv:astro-ph/0304054. Bibcode:2003A&A...405....5B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20030557. S2CID 8935199. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  12. ^ Pompei, E.; Terndrup, D. M. (1998). David R. Merritt; Monica Valluri; J. A. Sellwood (eds.). "The Stellar and Gaseous Kinematics of NGC 2683". Galaxy Dynamics, Proceedings of a Conference Held at Rutgers University, 8-12 Aug 1998. ASP Conference Series (San Francisco: ASP). 182: 221. Bibcode:1999ASPC..182..221P.
  13. ^ "Globular Cluster Systems in Galaxies Beyond the Local Grup". NASA-IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). Retrieved 2012-07-21.
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