NGC 3310 is a

grand design spiral galaxy A grand design spiral galaxy is a type of spiral galaxy with prominent and well-defined spiral arms, as opposed to multi-arm and flocculent spirals which have subtler structural features. The spiral arms of a grand design galaxy extend clearly ar ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

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 ...

. It is a

starburst galaxy A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star formatio ...

and it is likely that NGC 3310 collided with one of its

satellite galaxies A satellite galaxy is a smaller companion galaxy that travels on bound orbits within the gravitational potential of a more massive and luminous host galaxy (also known as the primary galaxy). Satellite galaxies and their constituents are bound ...

about 100 million years ago, triggering widespread star formation. It is thought to be located approximately 46 million

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

s away from the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, and is thought to be about 22,000 light-years wide. The ring clusters of NGC 3310 have been undergoing starburst activity for at least the last 40 million years. Three

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

e have been discovered in NGC 3310. SN 1974C (mag. 16.5), was discovered on 26 February, 1974.Transient Name Server entry for SN 1974C.
Retrieved 24 March 2023. SN 1991N ( type Ib/c, mag. 15) was spotted March 29, 1991 at an offset of east and south of the galactic nucleus. SN 2021gmj ( type IIP, mag.15.1) was discovered on 20 March, 2021.

References

External links

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Hubble's Ultraviolet Views of Nearby Galaxies Yield Clues to Early Universe

(

Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University (MTU). According to the website, "Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written ...

2012 March 12) {{Catalogs, NGC=3310, UGC=5786, PGC=31650, Arp=217 Peculiar galaxies Intermediate spiral galaxies Ursa Major 3310 05786 31650

217 Year 217 (Roman numerals, CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Praesens and Extricatus (or, less frequently, yea ...

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