NGC 972 is a dusty[5]spiral galaxy in the northernconstellation ofAries, located at an approximate distance of 49.8 Mly[4] from theMilky Way. It was discovered in 1784 byWilliam Herschel. The galactic features suggest it may have undergone a merger with a gas-rich companion, giving it asymmetricalarms, plusstarburst activity in the nucleus and an off-planar nuclear ring. The inner 3.6 kpc of the galaxy is undergoing star formation at the rate of 2.1–2.7 M☉·yr−1,[7] but it lacks anuclear bulge.[5]
On October 16, 2008, a possiblesupernova event was observed about16.2″ west and19.5″ north of theGalactic Center. It reached magnitude 14.7 in theinfrared K' band, but only a possible very faint transient event was observed in the visual frequency range, most likely as a result of strongextinction.[8]
The group of galaxies around NGC 972 is sometimes referred to as the "NGC 972 group," which includes NGC 1012, NGC 1056, UGC 1958, UGC 2017, UGC 2053, and UGC 2221.[9][10]
^abSkrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (1 February 2006)."The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)".The Astronomical Journal.131 (2):1163–1183.Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S.doi:10.1086/498708.ISSN0004-6256.S2CID18913331.
^Dudley, C. C.; et al. (October 2008). Green, D. W. E. (ed.). "Possible Reddened Supernovae in NGC 972 and NGC 5900".IAU Circular.8992: 1.Bibcode:2008IAUC.8992....1D.
Media related toNGC 972 at Wikimedia Commons
