NGC 3726 is a barred

spiral galaxy Spiral galaxies form a galaxy morphological classification, class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae''

Ursa Major Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation in the Northern Sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear", referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa M ...

. It is located at a distance of circa 45 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 3726 is about 85,000 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 February 5, 1788.

Structure

NGC 3726 is a spiral galaxy with a small bar, seen with medium inclination. The bar is 1.38 arcseconds across and it ends at an inner ring with 1.50 arcseconds diameter. The bluest regions of star formation are located at the ring. Three arms emanate from the ring. The southern is the brightest and the north is the best defined. The third arm emanates from the east side of the ring, moves towards NNW and then bends sharply to the southwest. The

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 are thick and well defined and can be traced for half a revolution. The arms then branch into fragments. The spiral pattern of the galaxy is a bit disturbed and asymmetrical. Numerous bright

HII region An H II region is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized. It is typically in a molecular cloud of partially ionized gas in which star formation has recently taken place, with a size ranging from one to hundreds of light year ...

s are present in the galaxy. The galaxy has a massive

dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

. The nucleus of the galaxy hosts 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 mass 10^6.5 (3 million) , based on Ks bulge luminosity.

Nearby galaxies

NGC 3726 belongs in the NGC 3877 group, which is part of the south Ursa Major groups, part 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 ...

. Other galaxies in the same group are NGC 3893, NGC 3896, NGC 3906, NGC 3928, NGC 3949, NGC 3985, and NGC 4010. It may be also kinematically related with the smaller galaxies NGC 3769 and NGC 3782, located at angular distances 68' and 69' respectively.Sandage, A., Bedke, J. (1994) ''The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies. Volume I'',

Carnegie Institution of Washington The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in W ...

Gallery

NGC3726 - SDSS DR14 (panorama).jpg, NGC 3726 by the

Sloan Digital Sky Survey The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project began in 2000 a ...

References

External links

{{Ngc40 Intermediate spiral galaxies Ursa Major Ursa Major Cluster 3726 06537 35676 Astronomical objects discovered in 1788 Discoveries by William Herschel