NGC 4666 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo, located at a distance of approximately 55 megalight-years from the Milky Way.[3] It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. It 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]John L. E. Dreyer described it as "bright, very large, much extended 45°±, pretty suddenly brighter middle".[7] It is a member of an interacting system with NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy,[8] and belongs to a small group that also includes NGC 4632.[2]
NGC 4666, IRAS F12425-0011, MCG+00-33-008, MRC 1242-001, PMN J1245-0027, UGC 7926, UZC J124508.0-002744, PGC 42975[5]
The morphological classification of this galaxy is SABc, which indicates a weak bar around the nucleus with moderately wound spiral arms. Viewed nearly edge-on, its galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 85°±2° to the line of sight from the Earth, with the major axis aligned along a position angle of 40°. There is an active galactic nucleus that shows a modest level of activity and is most likely heavily obscured by gas and dust. The central point source has been detected in the radio and X-ray bands.[2]
This is a starburst galaxy that is noteworthy for its vigorous star formation, which creates an unusual superwind[9] of out-flowing gas. This wind is not visible at optical wavelengths, but is prominent in X-rays, and has been observed by the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope.[10] The estimated star formation rate is 7.3M☉yr–1, with a density of 8.9×10−3M☉yr−1kpc−2. Unlike in many other starburst galaxies, the star formation is spread across the disk rather than being more concentrated.[2]
A type Ia supernova was detected in NGC 4666 on 9 December 2014;[11][12] ASASSN-14lp is located 12″ from the center of NGC 4666. A type Ib supernova, SN 2019yvr, was detected on 27 December 2019.[13] It has a 0.005 redshift. Images of the location of the supernova before the explosion showed the progenitor star was ~19M☉.[14]
Enlarged view of the center of NGC 4666 by the Hubble Space Telescope
References
Skrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131: 1163–1183. doi:10.1086/498708. ISSN0004-6256.
Stein, Y.; etal. (March 2019). "CHANG-ES. XIII. Transport processes and the magnetic fields of NGC 4666: indication of a reversing disk magnetic field". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 623: 21. arXiv:1901.08090. Bibcode:2019A&A...623A..33S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834515. A33.
Kilpatrick, Charles; etal. (2021-03-30). "A Cool and Inflated Progenitor Candidate for the Type Ib Supernova 2019yvr at 2.6 Years Before Explosion". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. arXiv:2101.03206. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab838.
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