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| UGC 2885 | |
|---|---|
 UGC 2885 imaged by theHubble Space Telescope[1] | |
| Observation data (J2000epoch) | |
| Constellation | Perseus |
| Right ascension | 03h 53m 02.459s[2] |
| Declination | +35° 35′ 22.17″[2] |
| Redshift | 0.019350±0.000010[3][4] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 5,801±3 km/s[3] |
| Galactocentric velocity | 5,870±4 km/s[3] |
| Distance | 274.0 ± 19.24 Mly (84.0 ± 5.9 Mpc)h−1 0.6774 (Comoving)[3] 269 Mly (82.48 Mpc)h−1 0.6774 (Light-travel)[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.5[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 14.4[5] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA(rs)c[3] |
| Mass | 2 trillion[6][7] M☉ |
| Size | 438,060 ly × 201,500 ly (134.31 kpc × 61.78 kpc) (diameter; 25.0 B-mag arcsec−2)[3][a] 216,110 ly × 90,769 ly (66.26 kpc × 27.83 kpc) (diameter; 20.0 K-mag arcsec−2)[3][a] |
| Apparent size (V) | 5.5′ × 2.5′[8][5] |
| Other designations | |
| TC 49, Z 039.8+3527,IRAS 03497+3526,MCG +06-09-012,PGC 14030,CGCG 526-012[5] | |
UGC 2885 (Rubin's Galaxy,[9] nicknamedGodzilla galaxy[10]) is a giantbarredspiral galaxy oftypeSA(rs)c in the constellationPerseus. It is 84megaparsecs (274.0 millionlight-years) from Earth and measures 134.3 kiloparsecs (438,000 light-years) across, making it one of thelargest known spiral galaxies.[3] It is also a possible member of thePerseus–Pisces Supercluster.[11]
UGC 2885 is aspiral galaxy with a relativelylow surface brightness,[12] but does not have as low of a surface brightness as other so-called giant low surface brightness galaxies.[13]
UGC 2885 is classified as afield galaxy, being remarkably isolated from other galaxies. It is unknown how it got its cold gas which is necessary for star formation.[13] NASA has reported that the theorized main source for disk growth for UGC 2885 came from the accretion of intergalactic hydrogen gas, rather than through the repeated process ofgalactic collision, as most galaxies are thought to grow.[10]
The lack of interaction is evident from the near-perfect structure of the spiral arms and disk, lack of tidal tails, and modest rate of star formation—approximately 0.5 solar masses/year.
Additionally, despite being originally classified as an unbarred spiral galaxy, new Hubble images clearly show the presence of a small bar cutting across the ring structure of the core. This is peculiar, as most bars are thought to form through minor gravitational perturbations brought on by satellite and neighboring galaxies, which is something this galaxy lacks. This galaxy highlights that bars are able to form in spiral galaxies without the influence of another galaxy—this indicates that other forces, such as interactions between stars, gas and dust, as well as the gravitational influence ofdark matter, might play a role in their development.
Twosupernovae have been observed in UGC 2885:
