NGC 3741

NGC 3741 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by John Herschel on March 19, 1828.^[4] At a distance of about 10 million light-years (3.2 Mpc), it is located in the M94 Group.^[3] It is relatively undisturbed by other galaxies.^[3]

NGC 3741
Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 3741
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Ursa Major
Right ascension	11h 36m 05s[1]
Declination	+45° 17′ 02″[1]
Redshift	0.000764[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity	229 ± 4 km/s[2]
Distance	10 Mly (3.2 Mpc)[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)	14.23[1]
Apparent magnitude (B)	14.55[1]
Characteristics
Type	ImIII/BCD[2]
Other designations
NGC 3741, UGC 6572, MCG +08-21-068, PGC 35878, SDSS J113605.75+451702.9[1]

NGC 3741 is an unusual galaxy in several aspects. It has a disk of neutral hydrogen (H I) that is extremely wide, extending some 23,000 light-years (7 kpc). The disk is strongly but symmetrically warped.^[5] With a mass-to-light ratio of M_T/L_B ~ 149, it is highly rich in dark matter.^[6]

NGC 3741 has a central bar and a faint spiral arm rich in H I. The bar rotates slowly, likely due to interaction with the dark matter.^[7] The bar and spiral arms would make NGC 3741 a low-luminosity spiral galaxy.^[3] The unusual properties could be explained if NGC 3741 were a late-stage merger between a low-mass companion or if it accreted mass from the intergalactic medium.^[3]