NGC 3079
| NGC 3079 | |
|---|---|
NGC 3079 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Right ascension | 10h 01m 57.9268s |
| Declination | +55° 40′ 46.926″ |
| Redshift | 1116 ± 1 km/s |
| Distance | 50 Mly |
| Group or cluster | NGC 3079 Group (LGG 188) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.5 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SB(s)c |
| Size | ~135,600 ly (41.58 kpc) (estimated) |
| Apparent size (V) | 7.9′ × 1.4′ |
| Other designations | |
| HOLM 156A, IRAS 09585+5555, UGC 5387, PGC 29050, CGCG 266-008 | |
NGC 3079 is a barred spiral galaxy about 50 million light-years away, and located in the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 1 April 1790.
The SIMBAD database lists NGC 3079 as a Seyfert II Galaxy, i.e. it has a quasar-like nucleus with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra reveal strong, high-ionisation emission lines, but unlike quasars, the host galaxy is clearly detectable.