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NGC 3962

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 3962
Pan-STARRS image of NGC 3962
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationCrater[1]
Right ascension11h 54m 40.099s[2]
Declination−13° 58′ 30.235″[2]
Redshift0.006054±0.00006[3]
Heliocentric radial velocity1,818±17 km/s[4]
Distance118.4 ± 7.6 Mly (36.3 ± 2.34 Mpc)[5]
Group or clusterCrater Cloud
Apparent magnitude (V)11.1[1]
Characteristics
TypeE1[6]
Number of stars131.5×109 M☉[7]
Apparent size (V)2.6′ × 2.2′[1]
Other designations
2MASX J11544010-1358299, NGC 3962, LEDA 37366, MCG -02-30-040[8]

NGC 3962 is an elliptical galaxy in the southern constellation of Crater.[1] It can be spotted in a small telescope as a fuzzy blob about 3° north-northwest of the star Eta Crateris.[9] This feature was discovered on February 8, 1785 by German-British astronomer William Herschel.[10] It has an apparent visual magnitude of 11.1 and an angular size of 2.6′ × 2.2′.[1] The distance to NGC 3962 is approximately 118 million light years.[5] It is a member of the Crater Cloud filament of galaxies,[6] although there are no significant nearby companions and it lacks any indication of tidal disturbance from past interactions.[11]

The morphological classification of NGC 3962 is E1, indicating a nearly spherical elliptical galaxy. It has an ellipticity of 0.28 with the major axis oriented along a position angle of 10.0°. There is no clear disk structure, although the isophotal shape profile suggests a disk-like appearance in the outskirts. The galaxy displays some signatures of past accretion causing star formation in the nucleus.[6] A weak radio source was detected at the core in 1985.[12]

The neutral hydrogen in the galaxy has a combined mass of 2.8×109 M☉.[6] The extent of this neutral gas is 2.7 times larger than the photometric diameter.[13] Based on observations in the far infrared, the galaxy has a diffuse dust component with a mass of 2.71×105 M☉ at a mean temperature of 12 K.[14] The galaxy contains two distinct regions of ionized gas: an inner disk and an arc-like structure.[15] The disk is misaligned with the galaxy profile, showing an inclination of 45° and an orientation along a position angle of 70°.[16]

NGC 3962 has a rich galactic cluster system with 557 candidate globular clusters. The 17 brightest of these may be ultra compact dwarfs.[11] The nucleus activity is catalogued as the LINER type, with a supermassive black hole mass estimated at 8.51×108 M☉.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Finlay, Warren H. (2014), Concise Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects, The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series (2nd ed.), Springer Cham, p. 272, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03170-5, ISBN 978-3-319-03169-9.
  2. 1 2 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023), "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 674: A1, arXiv:2208.00211, Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940, S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. ↑ De Vaucouleurs, Gerard; et al. (1991), Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies, 9, New York: Springer-Verlag, Bibcode:1991rc3..book.....D.
  4. ↑ Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; et al. (June 2008), "Line Strengths of Early-Type Galaxies", The Astronomical Journal, 135 (6): 2424–2445, arXiv:0803.3477, Bibcode:2008AJ....135.2424O, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/6/2424.
  5. 1 2 Burke, Colin J.; et al. (January 2025), "Multiwavelength Constraints on the Local Black Hole Occupation Fraction", The Astrophysical Journal, 978 (1), id. 77, arXiv:2410.11177, Bibcode:2025ApJ...978...77B, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad94d9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Rampazzo, R.; et al. (June 2017), "Investigating early-type galaxy evolution with a multiwavelength approach. II. The UV structure of 11 galaxies with Swift-UVOT", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 602, id. A97, arXiv:1702.02013, Bibcode:2017A&A...602A..97R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629743.
  7. ↑ Ebrová, Ivana; et al. (December 2025), "Photometric stellar masses for galaxies in DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 704, id. A232, arXiv:2510.02257, Bibcode:2025A&A...704A.232E, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202453448.
  8. ↑ "NGC 3962", SIMBAD, Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ O'Meara, Stephen James (2007), Herschel 400 Observing Guide, Cambridge University Press, p. 141, ISBN 978-0-521-85893-9.
  10. ↑ Seligman, Courtney, "NGC Objects: NGC 3950 - 3999", Celestial Atlas, retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. 1 2 Salinas, R.; et al. (May 2015), "Isolated ellipticals and their globular cluster systems. III. NGC 2271, NGC 2865, NGC 3962, NGC 4240, and IC 4889", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 577, id. A59, arXiv:1502.06148, Bibcode:2015A&A...577A..59S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425574.
  12. ↑ Birkinshaw, M.; Davies, R. L. (April 1985), "The orientations of the rotation axes of radio galaxies. I. Radio morphologies of bright elliptical galaxies.", Astrophysical Journal, 291: 32–44, Bibcode:1985ApJ...291...32B, doi:10.1086/163038.
  13. ↑ Bottinelli, L.; Gouguenheim, L. (July 1979), "The large-scale distribution of neutral hydrogen in the elliptical galaxy NGC 3962.", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 76: 176–178, Bibcode:1979A&A....76..176B.
  14. ↑ Leeuw, Lerothodi L.; et al. (September 2004), "Observations of Cold Dust in Nearby Elliptical Galaxies", The Astrophysical Journal, 612 (2): 837–847, arXiv:astro-ph/0406011, Bibcode:2004ApJ...612..837L, doi:10.1086/422795.
  15. ↑ Zeilinger, W. W.; et al. (December 1996), "The distribution of ionized gas in early-type galaxies. II. The velocity field of the ionized gas.", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 120: 257–266, Bibcode:1996A&AS..120..257Z.
  16. ↑ Rampazzo, R.; et al. (April 2005), "Nearby early-type galaxies with ionized gas. I. Line-strength indices of the underlying stellar population", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 433 (2): 497–513, arXiv:astro-ph/0411802, Bibcode:2005A&A...433..497R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200400122.
  17. ↑ Durré, Mark; et al. (October 2023), "Infrared spectroscopy of nearby radio active early-type galaxies - II: spectral atlas", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 524 (4): 4923–4938, arXiv:2307.05931, Bibcode:2023MNRAS.524.4923D, doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2083.
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