NGC 4638 | |
---|---|
Observation data ( J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Virgo |
Right ascension | 12h 42m 47.4s [1] |
Declination | 11° 26′ 33″ [1] |
Redshift | 0.003843 [1] |
Heliocentric radial velocity | 1152 km/s [1] |
Distance | 50.77 Mly (15.565 Mpc) [1] |
Group or cluster | Virgo Cluster |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.1 [1] |
Characteristics | |
Type | S0 [1] |
Size | ~42,800 ly (13.13 kpc) (estimated) [1] |
Apparent size (V) | 2.17 x 1.27 [1] |
Other designations | |
NGC 4667, CGCG 70-229, CGCG 71-6, MCG 2-32-187, PGC 42728, UGC 7880, VCC 1938 [1] |
NGC 4638 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy [2] located about 50 million light-years away [3] in the constellation Virgo. [4] NGC 4638 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784. [5] The galaxy is a member of the Virgo Cluster. [6] [7]
At the center of NGC 4638, there is a small bulge. There is also an edge-on disk and a diffuse, boxy halo. The shallow surface brightness gradient of the halo is characteristic of a large spheroidal galaxy. This means that NGC 4638 has properties of both S0 and Sph galaxies. [8]