NGC 5850

NGC 5850
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation	Virgo
Right ascension	15h 07m 08s
Declination	+01° 32′ 39″
Heliocentric radial velocity	2 545 ± 1 km/s
Distance	131.5 ± 9.2 Mly (40.33 ± 2.83 Mpc)
Apparent magnitude (B)	11.5
Surface brightness	23 mag/arcsec2
Other designations
PGC 53979, UGC 9715, IRAS 15045+0144
References: List of NGC objects (5001-6000)

NGC 5850 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 2,735 ± 13 km/s,^[1] which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 40.3 ± 2.8 Mpc (~131 million ly).^[2] NGC 5850 was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1786.^[3]

The luminosity class of NGC 5850 is II and it has a broad HI1 line.^[4] It is also classified a LINER galaxy; a galaxy whose nucleus presents an emission spectrum characterized by broad lines of weakly ionized atoms.^[5][6]

To date, seven non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 18.7 ± 1.75 Mpc (~61 million ly), which is far outside the Hubble distance values.^[7] Note that it is with the average value of independent measurements, when they exist, that the NASA/IPAC database calculates the diameter of a galaxy and that consequently the diameter of NGC 5850 could be approximately 58.7 kpc (~191,000 ly) if we used the Hubble distance to calculate it.^[8]

NGC 5850 was used by Gérard de Vaucouleurs as a galaxy of morphological type SB(r)b in his galaxy atlas.^[9][10] It is classified as a prototype double-barred system early-type spiral galaxy by other studies as well.^[11][12]

In 2002, Eskridge, Frogel and Pogge published a paper, describing the morphology of 205 closely spaced spiral galaxies. The observations were carried out in the H band of infrared and in the B band (blue). According to Eskridge and his colleagues, NGC 5850 is a spiral galaxy of type SB(r)ab in the B band and type SB(r)0/a in the H band. The isophotes of the outer bulb are almost circular. The nucleus appears elliptical. The bulb is crossed by a very long bar with ansae at its end. The bar is inclined at 60 degrees to the interior bulb. A complete inner ring is formed at the end of the bar and beyond there is a faint spiral structure. The spiral arms appear to form an incomplete outern pseudo-ring.^[13] One of these spiral arms of NGC 5850 appears broken, likely caused by an interaction with a north-west object.^[14]

NGC 5850 is close to its neighbor, NGC 5846. However, the distance between them is exactly 40 million light-years. Although they not a physical pair, it is possible that the two galaxies might have experienced a high-speed encounter around 200 million years ago.^[15]

One supernova has been observed in NGC 5850: SN 1987B. It was discovered by Robert Evans on 24 February 1987 lying 71" west and 145" south of the nucleus, shining at magnitude 15.^[16] The spectral analysis indicates that it was a non-conventional type II supernova.^[17]

• NGC 5846, thought to have caused creation of NGC 5850^[4]

• Aguerri, J. A. L.; Hunter, J. H.; Prieto, M.; Varela, A. M.; Gottesman, S. T.; Muñoz-Tuñón, C. (July 2001). "An hydrodynamical model of the barred galaxy NGC 5850". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 373 (3): 786–795. Bibcode:2001A&A...373..786A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20010557.

• NGC 5850 at SIMBAD
• NGC 5850 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images