NGC 3599 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 14, 1784.[6] The galaxy is located at a distance of 67 million light-years (20.4 Mpc) from the Sun.[4] NGC 3599 is a member of the Leo II group of galaxies[4] in the Virgocentric flow.[7]

NGC 3599
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationLeo
Right ascension11h 15m 26.949s[1]
Declination+18° 06′ 37.43″[1]
Redshift0.00277[2]
Heliocentric radial velocity876±18 km/s[3]
Distance67 Mly (20.4 Mpc)[4]
Apparent magnitude (V)10.178
Characteristics
TypeSA0:[4]
Other designations
NGC 3599, UGC 6281, MCG +03-29-015, PGC 34326[5]

The morphological classification of NGC 3599 is SA0:,[4] which indicates this is a lenticular galaxy but with some uncertainty in the classification. There is a weak ring structure 45″ to 71″ from the nucleus, and a small bar about 11″ in length.[8] The galaxy is inclined at an angle of 28° to the plane of the sky,[4] so it is being viewed from nearly face-on. The nucleus is compact and not associated with any non-thermal activity.[4] Although not optically active, NGC 3599 is classified as a Seyfert 2 or a LINER-type galaxy.[9] The mass of the central black hole is estimated at (1.3±0.6)×106 M.[4]

In 2003, a sudden rise in X-ray emission from NGC 3599 was observed by the XMM-Newton space observatory. Follow-up observations showed a rapid decay in flux during the following years. This was originally suggested as a candidate tidal disruption event but it may instead have been caused by thermal instability of the accretion disk orbiting a black hole.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2021). "Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 649: A1. arXiv:2012.01533. Bibcode:2021A&A...649A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657. S2CID 227254300. (Erratum: doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202039657e). Gaia EDR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. ^ Gavazzi, Giuseppe; et al. (October 2011). "The complete census of optically selected AGNs in the Coma Supercluster: the dependence of AGN activity on the local environment". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 534: A31. arXiv:1107.3702. Bibcode:2011A&A...534A..31G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201117461. ISSN 0004-6361.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Sil'Chenko, O. K.; et al. (2010). "Lenticular Galaxies at the Outskirts of the Leo Ii Group: NGC 3599 and NGC 3626". The Astronomical Journal. 140 (5): 1462–1474. arXiv:1010.2716. Bibcode:2010AJ....140.1462S. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/5/1462. S2CID 119224609.
  5. ^ "NGC 3599". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  6. ^ Seligman, Courtney. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 3500 - 3549". Celestial Atlas. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  7. ^ Esquej, P.; et al. (October 2008). "Evolution of tidal disruption candidates discovered by XMM-Newton". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 489 (2): 543–554. arXiv:0807.4452. Bibcode:2008A&A...489..543E. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200810110.
  8. ^ Gutiérrez, Leonel; et al. (November 2011). "The Outer Disks of Early-type Galaxies. II. Surface-brightness Profiles of Unbarred Galaxies and Trends with Hubble Type". The Astronomical Journal. 142 (5). id. 145. arXiv:1108.3662. Bibcode:2011AJ....142..145G. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/142/5/145.
  9. ^ a b Saxton, R. D.; et al. (December 2015). "Was the soft X-ray flare in NGC 3599 due to an AGN disc instability or a delayed tidal disruption event?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 454 (3): 2798–2803. arXiv:1509.05193. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.454.2798S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2160.
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