PGC 57006,UGC 10178,4C +24.36,MCG +04-38-021, GIN 487
NGC 6051 is a giantelliptical galaxy located in the constellation ofSerpens. The galaxy lies 453 millionlight-years fromEarth, which means given its apparentdimensions, the galaxy is around 250,000 light-years across.[1] It is thebrightest cluster galaxy inside a relaxed poorcluster called AWM 4, a fossil system,[2] making up of at least 30 galaxy members.[3]
NGC 6051 was discovered byEdouard Stephan on June 20, 1881. According toJohn Louis Emil Dreyer, he described it as faint small round object with a bright middle nucleus and a 10th magnitudestar to southeast.[4]SIMBAD andHyperLEDA databases listed NGC 6051 asIC 4588,[5][6] but according to Harold Corwin, these galaxies are two separate objects.[7] O'Sullivan and associates (2011) have them as separate entities, with NGC 6051 being the central dominant galaxy of a cluster.[8]
The nucleus in NGC 6051 is consideredactive and it is aradio galaxy.[12] It is classified as aFanaroff-Riley class hybrid transition of Type I and Type II. Hosting a wide-angle tailed powerfulradio source,[13][14] NGC 6051 contains two reflection-symmetrical wiggledradio jets and largeradio lobes emerging from its radio core by ~ 80kiloparsecs (kpc).[15] The most accepted theory for this active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity, is the presence of asupermassive black hole. The mass of the black hole in NGC 6051 is estimated to be 9.57 ± 0.02 M⊙ based on the MBH - MK correlation.[16]
According to the jet to counterjet brightnessratio, the central ~ 10 kpc jet region of NGC 6051 is potentially orientated closer to theplane of the sky. From the analysis of gradually steepeningspectral index, the jets and lobes have an estimated lifetime of 160 million years old. This indicates the source of NGC 6051 is old.[15][13]
A study has found traces ofiron inside the entrained gas produced from the central region of NGC 6051, with a mass of ~1.4 x 106 M⊙. With theenergy amount of ~4.5 x 1057erg, the gas might been transported out from the galaxy by its jets, to a certain extent of enriching theintracluster medium.[14]
