Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6140

Dreyer's description in the New General Catalog (NGC):

Considerably faint, pretty large, irregularly round.

This galaxy has a strangely shaped, bright nucleus with a disk of very low surface brightness. The brightest spiral arm contains a string of knots that are probably H-II star forming regions. Based on the published red shift, (and a Hubble Constant of 62 Km/sec per Mpc) a rough distance estimate is 48 million light years, with a diameter of about 87,600 light years.

• NGC 6140
• Magnitude: 12.1
• Constellation: Draco
• RA: 16h 20m 57.1s
• Dec: +65° 23' 30" Epoch 2000
• Size (mins): 6.3' x 4.6'
• Classification: SB(s)cd pec
                          Barred Spiral, S-shaped, peculiar
  
  

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George Normandin, KAS

December 1st, 2000