NGC 5988

NGC 5988 is a large spiral galaxy in the constellation of Serpens. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 10697 ± 10 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 514.6 ± 36.0 Mly (157.78 ± 11.05 Mpc).^[1] However, one non-redshift measurement gives a much larger distance of 668.62 Mly (205.000 Mpc).^[2] It was discovered by American astronomer Lewis Swift on 17 April 1887.^[3]

NGC 5988
NGC 5988 imaged by SDSS
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Serpens
Right ascension	15h 44m 33.8559s[1]
Declination	+10° 17′ 35.33″[1]
Redshift	0.035259[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	10,570 ± 4 km/s[1]
Distance	514.6 ± 36.0 Mly (157.78 ± 11.05 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	13.8[1]
Characteristics
Type	Scd[1]
Size	~298,900 ly (91.63 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)	1.2′ × 1.0′[1]
Other designations
IRAS F15421+1026, 2MASX J15443383+1017356, UGC 9998, MCG +02-40-012, PGC 55921, CGCG 078-058[1]

NGC 5988 is a LINER galaxy, i.e. it has a type of nucleus that is defined by its spectral line emission which has weakly ionized or neutral atoms, while the spectral line emission from strongly ionized atoms is relatively weak.^[4]

One supernova has been observed in NGC 5988: SN 2023hbv (Type II, mag. 19.278) was discovered by ATLAS on 29 April 2023.^[5]

See also

• List of NGC objects (5001–6000)