NGC 3887 is abarred spiral galaxy in the constellationCrater. The galaxy lies about 55 millionlight years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 3887 is approximately 60,000 light years across.[1] It was discovered byWilliam Herschel on December 31, 1785.[3]
NGC 3887 is a barred galaxy. Two thin dust lanes run across the bar from the centre of the galaxy, which bend and extend into the arms.[4] The bar is embedded in a small centrally concentratedbulge. The galaxy has twospiral arms which emerge from its end of the bar. The arms appear lumpy and can be traced for about 300° before fading. The lumps are the most pronounced part of the arms at their outer portion.[5]HII regions are visible across the arms.[4] Thestar formation rate is estimated to be 2.1M☉ per year.[6] The galaxy has an inner ring, with a diameter of 1.13 arcminutes and an outer ring with a diameter of 3.38 arcminutes.[7] In the centre of the galaxy lies asupermassive black hole with an estimated mass of(2.82±1.33)×106M☉. The galaxy is seen at an inclination of 49°.[8]
NGC 3887 is the foremost galaxy of the NGC 3887 Group, which also includes the galaxies HIPASS J1143-15, [KKS2000] 25, and HIPASS J1150-17.[9]
^abSandage, A., Bedke, J. (1994),The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies. Volume I, Carnegie Institution of Washington
^Eskridge, Paul B.; Frogel, Jay A.; Pogge, Richard W.; Quillen, Alice C.; Berlind, Andreas A.; Davies, Roger L.; DePoy, D. L.; Gilbert, Karoline M.; Houdashelt, Mark L.; Kuchinski, Leslie E.; Ramirez, Solange V.; Sellgren, K.; Stutz, Amelia; Terndrup, Donald M.; Tiede, Glenn P. (November 2002). "Near-Infrared and Optical Morphology of Spiral Galaxies".The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.143 (1):73–111.arXiv:astro-ph/0206320.Bibcode:2002ApJS..143...73E.doi:10.1086/342340.
^Comerón, S.; Salo, H.; Laurikainen, E.; Knapen, J. H.; Buta, R. J.; Herrera-Endoqui, M.; Laine, J.; Holwerda, B. W.; Sheth, K.; Regan, M. W.; Hinz, J. L.; Muñoz-Mateos, J. C.; Gil de Paz, A.; Menéndez-Delmestre, K.; Seibert, M.; Mizusawa, T.; Kim, T.; Erroz-Ferrer, S.; Gadotti, D. A.; Athanassoula, E.; Bosma, A.; Ho, L. C. (February 2014)."ARRAKIS: atlas of resonance rings as known in the S 4 G"(PDF).Astronomy & Astrophysics.562: A121.arXiv:1312.0866.Bibcode:2014A&A...562A.121C.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321633.
![The central region of NGC 3887 by the Hubble Space Telescope[10]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.m.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aA_galactic_traffic_jam_(49627044762).jpg)
