NGC 4030 is a grand design spiral galaxy located about 64 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 in the constellation

Virgo Virgo may refer to: * Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac * Virgo (constellation), a constellation * Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo * Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy *Virgo ...

. It is a member of the

NGC 4030 Group The Virgo II Groups, also known as the Virgo II Cloud, Virgo Southern Extension, or the Virgo S Cloud, are a series of at least 100 galactic clusters and individual galaxies stretching approximately off the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster ...

of galaxies, which is a member of the

Virgo II Groups The Virgo II Groups, also known as the Virgo II Cloud, Virgo Southern Extension, or the Virgo S Cloud, are a series of at least 100 galactic clusters and individual galaxies stretching approximately off the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster ...

, a series of galaxies and

galaxy cluster A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-la ...

s strung out from the southern edge of the

Virgo Supercluster The Virgo Supercluster (Virgo SC) or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) is a mass concentration of galaxies containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which itself contains the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At leas ...

. With an

apparent visual magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's lig ...

of 10.6, it is visible with a small telescope as a 3

arc minute A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn. The nau ...

wide feature about 4.75° to the southeast of the star

Beta Virginis Beta Virginis, a name Latinised from β Virginis, is a star in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It has the proper name Zavijava (), and, despite its designation 'beta', is the fifth-brightest star in Virgo with an apparent visua ...

. It is

inclined Incline, inclined, inclining, or inclination may refer to: *Grade (slope), the tilt, steepness, or angle from horizontal of a topographic feature (hillside, meadow, etc.) or constructed element (road, railway, field, etc.) *Slope, the tilt, steepn ...

by an angle of 47.1° to the line of sight 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 surf ...

and is receding at a velocity of 1,465 km/s. The morphological classification of NGC 4030 in the De Vaucouleurs system is SA(s)bc, which indicates a spiral structure (SA) with no bar (s) and moderate to loosely wound arms (bc). 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. The central bulge is relatively young with an estimated age of two billion years, while the nucleus is inactive. 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 Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS). It is in the southern Atacama Desert of Chile in the Atacama Region approximately northeast of the city of La Serena. ...

in Chile. Designated SN 2007aa, it was a type IIP supernova positioned 68″.5 north and 60″.8 east of the galactic nucleus. The progenitor was a

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around or ...

star with 8.5–16.5 times the

mass of the Sun The solar mass () is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. It is approximately equal to the mass of ...

Gallery

File:Ngc4030-hst-R814GB450.jpg, NGC 4030 imaged by the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

File:NGC4030 - SDSS DR14.jpg, NGC 4030 (SDSS DR14)

References

External links

* Virgo (constellation) Unbarred spiral galaxies 4030 37845 06993 {{Spiral-galaxy-stub