NGC 3938 | |
---|---|
Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Ursa Major [1] |
Right ascension | 11h 52m 42.9s [1] |
Declination | +44° 07′ 17″ [1] |
Distance | 43 M ly |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.9 [1] |
Characteristics | |
Type | SA(s)c [2] |
Apparent size (V) | 5.4′ × 4.9′ [1] |
Other designations | |
UGC 6856, MCG +07-25-001, PGC 37229 [2] |
NGC 3938 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the Ursa Major constellation. It was discovered on 6 February 1788 by William Herschel. It is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the Ursa Major South galaxy group and is roughly 67,000 light years in diameter. [3] It is approximately 43 million light years away from Earth. [1] NGC 3938 is classified as type Sc under the Hubble sequence, a loosely wound spiral galaxy with a smaller and dimmer bulge. [4] The spiral arms of the galaxy contain many areas of ionized atomic hydrogen gas, more so towards the center. [5]
Five supernovae have been identified within NGC 3938. SN 1961U (mag. 13.7) was discovered on 2 January 1962. [6] SN 1964L (mag. 13.3) was discovered on 11 December 1964. [7] SN 2005ay is a type II supernova that was discovered on 27 March 2005 and had a magnitude of 15.6. [8] SN 2017ein is a type Ic supernova that was discovered on 25 May 2017 and peaked at magnitude 14.9. [9] Images taken before the explosion point to a progenitor mass between ~47-48M☉, if it was in a single star system, and ~60-80M☉, if it was in a binary star system. [10] SN 2022xlp is a type Ia supernova that was discovered on 13 October 2022 by Koichi Itagaki.