NGC 5363 is a

lenticular galaxy A lenticular galaxy (denoted S0) is a Galaxy morphological classification, type of galaxy intermediate between an elliptical galaxy, elliptical (denoted E) and a spiral galaxy in galaxy morphological classification schemes. It contains a large-s ...

located in the constellation

Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...

. It is located at a distance of circa 65 million

light year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distance, astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by t ...

s from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5363 is about 100,000 light years across. It was discovered by

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

on January 19, 1784. It is a member of the NGC 5364 Group of galaxies, itself one of the

Virgo III Groups The Virgo III Groups, Virgo III Cloud, or the Virgo-Libra Cloud is a galaxy filament consisting of at least 13 galaxy groups. It is located approximately 87 Mly (27 Mpc) from the Solar System. The Virgo III Cloud, like the Leo Cloud, is prolate ...

strung out to the east of the

Virgo Supercluster The Local Supercluster (LSC or LS), or Virgo Supercluster is a formerly defined supercluster containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which itself contains the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At least 100 galaxy group ...

of galaxies.

Characteristics

NGC 5363 is characterised by the presence of a

dust Dust is made of particle size, fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian processes, aeolian process), Types of volcan ...

lane along its minor axis, visible also in

mid-infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...

maps, and a more extended one with an intermediate orientation. The total mass of cold dust in the galaxy is estimated to be , extending for 52 arcseconds in the far-infrared. The dust emission appears as a disk with

spiral arm Spiral arms are a defining feature of spiral galaxies. They manifest as spiral-shaped regions of enhanced brightness within the galactic disc. Typically, spiral galaxies exhibit two or more spiral arms. The collective configuration of these arms i ...

s and a possible barlike structure, and extends at the outer parts of the galaxy as a fainter, armlike structure, along the major axis of the galaxy. The galaxy also features HII emission that forms a spiral disk. The total dust mass is about a factor of 100 larger than the one predicted if it was created only by the mass lost by evolved stars. The galaxy also has shells, which are evidence of a recent

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

, in which NGC 5363 accreted another galaxy, and thus it is strongly suggested that the interstellar dust is of external origin. It is highly likely that this merger event caused

star formation Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—Jeans instability, collapse and form stars. As a branch of astronomy, sta ...

activity in the galaxy, as is evident by the detection of

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

radiation associated with young stars. Based on its

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, the nucleus of NGC 5363 has been found to be

active Active may refer to: Music * ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea * "Active" (song), a 2024 song by Asake and Travis Scott from Asake's album ''Lungu Boy'' * Active Records, a record label Ships * ''Active'' (ship), several com ...

and has been categorised as a

LINER Liner or LINER may refer to: Line drawing * Eye liner, a type of makeup * Marker pen, a porous-tip pen with its own ink source * Multiple lining tool used in engraving * A sable brush used by coach painters Linings * Acoustic liner, a no ...

. In the centre of NGC 5363 lies a

supermassive black hole A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions, of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical ...

with an estimated mass of 375 million . NGC 5363 has been found to emit

radio waves Radio waves (formerly called Hertzian waves) are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the lowest frequencies and the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies below 300 gigahertz (GHz) and wavelengths ...

. The radio source consists of a compact core with a diameter of less than 2 arcseconds and probably an extended component, stretching for about 20 arcseconds.

Nearby galaxies

NGC 5363 is the foremost galaxy in a

galaxy group A galaxy group or group of galaxies (GrG) is an aggregation of galaxies comprising about 50 or fewer gravitationally bound members, each at least as luminous as the Milky Way (about 1010 times the luminosity of the Sun); collections of galaxi ...

known as the NGC 5363 group. Other members of the group include NGC 5300, NGC 5348, NGC 5356, NGC 5360, and NGC 5364. NGC 5363 and NGC 5364 lie at a projected distance of 14.5 arcminutes, forming a non-interacting pair. The group is part of the Virgo III Groups, a very obvious chain of galaxy groups on the left side of the

Virgo Cluster The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the Virgo constellation. Comprising approximately 1,300 (and possibly up to 2,000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger ...

, stretching across 40 million light years of space.

References

External links

NGC 5363 on SIMBAD
{{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 5363 Lenticular galaxies Virgo (constellation) 5363 08847 49547 Astronomical objects discovered in 1784 Discoveries by William Herschel

Characteristics

Nearby galaxies

See also

References

External links