NGC 383 | |
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Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Pisces |
Right ascension | 01h 07m 24.968s[1] |
Declination | +32° 24′ 45.103″[1] |
Redshift | 0.017005[1] |
Distance | 209,000,000 ly 64 Mpc[2] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.4[1] |
Characteristics | |
Type | S0[1] |
Size | ~149,700 ly (45.91 kpc) (estimated)[1] |
Apparent size (V) | 2.34′ × 1.95′[1] |
Other designations | |
3C 31, 4C 32.05, QSO B0104+321, UGC 689, MCG +05-03-053, PGC 3982, CGCG 501-087, VV 193a[1] |
NGC 383 is a double radio galaxy[3] with a quasar-like appearance located in the constellation Pisces. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 12 September 1784.[4] It is listed as Arp 331 in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.[5]
Recent discoveries by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 2006 reveal that NGC 383 is being bisected by high energy relativistic jets traveling at relatively high fractions of the speed of light. The relativistic electrons in the jets are detected as synchrotron radiation in the x-ray and radio wavelengths. The focus of this intense energy is the galactic center of NGC 383. The relativistic electron jets detected as synchrotron radiation extend for several thousand parsecs and then appear to dissipate at the ends in the form of streamers or filaments.
There are four other nearby galaxies NGC 379, NGC 380, NGC 385, and NGC 384 which are suspected of being closely associated with NGC 383, as well as several other galaxies at relatively close distance.
Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 383: