NGC 4293 is alenticular galaxy in the northernconstellation ofComa Berenices. It was discovered by English astronomerWilliam Herschel on March 14, 1784, who described it as "large, extended, resolvable, 6 or 7′ long". This galaxy is positioned to the north-northwest of the star11 Comae Berenices and is a member of theVirgo Cluster of galaxies.[5] It is assumed to lie at the same distance as the Virgo Cluster itself: around 54 millionlight years away.[4] The galaxy spans an apparent area of5.3 × 3.1arc minutes.[5]
Themorphological classification of NGC 4293 is (R)SB(s)0/a, with the SB0/a indicating this has just distinguishable tightly wound spiral arms with abar structure at the nucleus. An '(s)' notation means that this galaxy does not have a ring-like structure around the nucleus.[6][8] Star formation within NGC 4293 is only taking place within a confined region at the center of the galaxy.[9] The outer stellar disk of the galaxy appears disturbed, suggesting some form of gravitational interaction.[10]
This is a common type ofactive galaxy known as aLINER, which means that the optical spectrum is dominated byemission lines from gases in low energyionization states. The activity may be the result of asupermassive black hole (SMBH) in the nucleus that is undergoing a low rate of matter accretion. The estimated mass of such an SMBH is5.9×107M⊙.[11] Radio emission from thermal activity has been detected from the proximity of this object.[12]
^Falcón-Barroso, J.; et al. (December 2009), "Galaxy Evolution: Emerging Insights and Future Challenges ASP Conference Series", in Jogee, S.; Marinova, I.; Hao, L.; et al. (eds.),Galactic Bulges: the SAURON Perspective, vol. 419, Society of the Pacific, 2009, p. 131,Bibcode:2009ASPC..419..131F.
^Cortés, J. R.; et al. (June 2006), "XI IAU Regional Latin American Meeting of Astronomy", in Infante, L.; Rubio, M. (eds.),Stellar and Ionized Gas Kinematics of Peculiar Virgo Cluster Galaxies, vol. 26, Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica, p. 189,arXiv:astro-ph/0602627,Bibcode:2006RMxAC..26Q.189C.
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