NGC 5850

NGC 5850 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 2,735 ± 13 km/s,^[2] which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 40.3 ± 2.8 Mpc (~131 million ly).^[3] NGC 5850 was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 24 February 1786.^[4]

NGC 5850
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Virgo
Right ascension	15h 07m 07.6796s[1]
Declination	+01° 32′ 39.362″[1]
Redshift	0.008489[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	2545 ± 2 km/s[1]
Distance	131.5 ± 9.2 Mly (40.33 ± 2.83 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (B)	11.5
Surface brightness	23 mag/arcsec2
Characteristics
Type	SB(r)b[1]
Size	~88,700 ly (27.20 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)	4.5′ × 3.9′[1]
Other designations
IRAS 15045+0144, UGC 9715, MCG +00-39-002, PGC 53979, CGCG 021-006[1]
References: List of NGC objects (5001-6000)

Characteristics

The luminosity class of NGC 5850 is II and it has a broad HI1 line.^[5] It is also classified a LINER galaxy; a galaxy whose nucleus presents an emission spectrum characterized by broad lines of weakly ionized atoms.^[6][7]

To date, seven non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 18.7 ± 1.75 Mpc (~61 million ly), which is far outside the Hubble distance values.^[1] Note that it is with the average value of independent measurements, when they exist, that the NASA/IPAC database calculates the diameter of a galaxy and that consequently the diameter of NGC 5850 could be approximately 58.7 kpc (~191,000 ly) if we used the Hubble distance to calculate it.^[8]

Morphology

NGC 5850 was used by Gérard de Vaucouleurs as a galaxy of morphological type SB(r)b in his galaxy atlas.^[9][10] It is classified as a prototype double-barred system early-type spiral galaxy by other studies as well.^[11][12]

In 2002, Eskridge, Frogel and Pogge published a paper, describing the morphology of 205 closely spaced spiral galaxies. The observations were carried out in the H band of infrared and in the B band (blue). According to Eskridge and his colleagues, NGC 5850 is a spiral galaxy of type SB(r)ab in the B band and type SB(r)0/a in the H band. The isophotes of the outer bulb are almost circular. The nucleus appears elliptical. The bulb is crossed by a very long bar with ansae at its end. The bar is inclined at 60 degrees to the interior bulb. A complete inner ring is formed at the end of the bar and beyond there is a faint spiral structure. The spiral arms appear to form an incomplete outern pseudo-ring.^[13] One of these spiral arms of NGC 5850 appears broken, likely caused by an interaction with a north-west object.^[14]

Possible galaxy pair?

NGC 5850 (left) and NGC 5846 (right) captured by Adam Block (from Mount Lemmon Observatory/University of Arizona).

NGC 5850 is close to its neighbor, NGC 5846. However, the distance between them is exactly 40 million light-years. Although they not a physical pair, it is possible that the two galaxies might have experienced a high-speed encounter around 200 million years ago.^[15]

Supernova

One supernova has been observed in NGC 5850: SN 1987B (type II, mag. 15) was discovered by Robert Evans on 24 February 1987, shining 71" west and 145" south of the nucleus of the galaxy.^[16][17] Spectral analysis indicated that it was a non-conventional type II supernova.^[18]

See also

• NGC 5846, thought to have caused creation of NGC 5850^[5]
• List of NGC objects (5001–6000)