NGC 4030

NGC 4030 is a grand design spiral galaxy^[5] located about 64^[3] million light years away in the constellation Virgo. It is a member of the NGC 4030 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.^[6] With an apparent visual magnitude of 10.6, it is visible with a small telescope as a 3 arc minute wide feature about 4.75° to the southeast of the star Beta Virginis.^[4] It is inclined by an angle of 47.1°^[3] to the line of sight from the Earth and is receding at a velocity of 1,465 km/s.^[3]

NGC 4030
Infrared view of NGC 4030 from the Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile[1]
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Virgo
Right ascension	12h 00m 23.643s[2]
Declination	–01° 05′ 59.87″[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity	1,465[3] km/s
Distance	63.6 ± 4.9 Mly (19.5 ± 1.5 Mpc)[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)	10.6[4]
Characteristics
Type	SA(s)bc[3]
Apparent size (V)	3′.8 × 2′.9[4]
Other designations
PGC 37845, UGC 6993[3]

The morphological classification of NGC 4030 in the De Vaucouleurs system is SA(s)bc,^[3] which indicates a spiral structure (SA) with no bar (s) and moderate to loosely wound arms (bc).^[7] The inner part of the galaxy shows a complex structure with multiple spiral arms, which becomes a symmetric, double arm pattern beyond 49″ from the core.^[5] The central bulge is relatively young with an estimated age of two billion years,^[8] while the nucleus is inactive.^[9]

In 2007, a supernova explosion was discovered in the galaxy from images taken on February 19 from the 1 m Swope telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Designated SN 2007aa, it was a type IIP^[10] supernova positioned 68″.5 north and 60″.8 east of the galactic nucleus.^[11] The progenitor was a red giant star with 8.5–16.5 times the mass of the Sun.^[10]

Gallery

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  NGC 4030 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
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  NGC 4030 (SDSS DR14)