NGC 2642

NGC 2642 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Hydra. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 4632 ± 21 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 68.32 ± 4.79 Mpc (~223 million light-years).^[1] It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 19 February 1830.^[2]

NGC 2642
NGC 2642 imaged by SDSS
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Hydra
Right ascension	08h 40m 44.3818s[1]
Declination	−04° 07′ 18.011″[1]
Redshift	0.014473[1]
Heliocentric radial velocity	4339 ± 5 km/s[1]
Distance	222.8 ± 15.6 Mly (68.32 ± 4.79 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)	12.6[1]
Characteristics
Type	SB(r)bc[1]
Size	~140,800 ly (43.17 kpc) (estimated)[1]
Apparent size (V)	2.0′ × 1.8′[1]
Other designations
IRAS 08382-0356, 2MASX J08404435-0407182, MCG -01-22-033, PGC 24395[1]

According to the SIMBAD database, NGC 2642 is a Seyfert I galaxy, i.e. it has a quasar-like nuclei with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, the host galaxy is clearly detectable.^[3]

Supernovae

Three supernovae have been observed in NGC 2642:

• SN 2002fj (Type IIn, mag. 15.8) was discovered by Libert "Berto" Monard on 12 September 2002.^[4][5]
• SN 2008bh (Type II, mag. 16.3) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) and by The CHilean Automatic Supernova sEarch (CHASE) on 23 March 2008.^[6][7]
• SN 2023aaby (Type Ic, mag. 17.943) was discovered by ATLAS on 14 December 2023.^[8]

See also

• List of NGC objects (2001–3000)