NGC 3783 is a
barred spiral galaxy located about 135[4] million
light years away in the
constellationCentaurus.[7] It is inclined by an angle of 23° to the
line of sight from the
Earth along a
position angle of about 163°. The
morphological classification of SBa[5] indicates a bar structure across the center (B) and tightly-wound spiral arms (a).[8] Although not shown by this classification, observers note the galaxy has a luminous inner ring surrounding the bar structure. The bright compact nucleus is
active and categorized as a
Seyfert 1 type. This nucleus is a strong source of X-ray emission and undergoes variations in emission across the electromagnetic spectrum.[5]
This is a member of a
loose association of 47 galaxies known as the NGC 3783 group. Located at a mean distance of 117 million light-years (36 Mpc), the group is centered at coordinates α = 11h 37m 12s, δ = –37° 30′ 57.6″: equivalent to about 870×10^3 ly (267 kpc) from NGC 3783. The NGC 3783 group has a mean velocity of 2,903 ± 26 km/s with respect to the
Sun and a velocity dispersion of 190 ± 24 km/s. The diffuse X-ray emission of the group is roughly centered on the galaxy NGC 3783.[12]
^Strauss, Michael A.; et al. (November 1992), "A redshift survey of IRAS galaxies. VII - The infrared and redshift data for the 1.936 Jansky sample", Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 83 (1): 29–63,
Bibcode:
1992ApJS...83...29S,
doi:
10.1086/191730.