NGC 3184
| NGC 3184 | |
|---|---|
NGC 3184 as observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope, as part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey. The blue colors represent the 3.6 micrometre emission from stars. The green and red colors represent the 5.8 and 8.0 micrometre emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and possibly dustright
. | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Right ascension | 10h 18m 17.0s |
| Declination | +41° 25′ 28″ |
| Redshift | 0.001975 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 592 ± 1 km/s |
| Distance | 39.8 ± 12 Mly (12.2 ± 3.7 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.4 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA(s)b: II |
| Apparent size (V) | 7.4′ × 6.9′ |
| Other designations | |
| UGC 5557, PGC 30087 | |
NGC 3184, the Little Pinwheel Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Its name comes from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy. It was discovered on 18 March 1787 by German-British astronomer William Herschel. It has two HII regions named NGC 3180 and NGC 3181.
NGC 3184 houses a high abundance of heavy elements. The blue color of its spiral arms comes mostly from relatively few bright young blue stars. The bright stars that highlight the arms were created in huge density waves that circle the center.