NGC 3962

NGC 3962
Pan-STARRS image of NGC 3962
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationCrater
Right ascension11h 54m 40.099s
Declination−13° 58′ 30.235″
Redshift0.006054±0.00006
Heliocentric radial velocity1,818±17 km/s
Distance118.4 ± 7.6 Mly (36.3 ± 2.34 Mpc)
Group or clusterCrater Cloud
Apparent magnitude (V)11.1
Characteristics
TypeE1
Number of stars131.5×109 M☉
Apparent size (V)2.6′ × 2.2′
Other designations
2MASX J11544010-1358299, NGC 3962, LEDA 37366, MCG -02-30-040

NGC 3962 is an elliptical galaxy in the southern constellation of Crater. It can be spotted in a small telescope as a fuzzy blob about 3° north-northwest of the star Eta Crateris. This feature was discovered on February 8, 1785 by German-British astronomer William Herschel. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 11.1 and an angular size of 2.6′ × 2.2′. The distance to NGC 3962 is approximately 118 million light years. It is a member of the Crater Cloud filament of galaxies, although there are no significant nearby companions and it lacks any indication of tidal disturbance from past interactions.

The morphological classification of NGC 3962 is E1, indicating a nearly spherical elliptical galaxy. It has an ellipticity of 0.28 with the major axis oriented along a position angle of 10.0°. There is no clear disk structure, although the isophotal shape profile suggests a disk-like appearance in the outskirts. The galaxy displays some signatures of past accretion causing star formation in the nucleus. A weak radio source was detected at the core in 1985.

The neutral hydrogen in the galaxy has a combined mass of 2.8×109 M☉. The extent of this neutral gas is 2.7 times larger than the photometric diameter. Based on observations in the far infrared, the galaxy has a diffuse dust component with a mass of 2.71×105 M☉ at a mean temperature of 12 K. The galaxy contains two distinct regions of ionized gas: an inner disk and an arc-like structure. The disk is misaligned with the galaxy profile, showing an inclination of 45° and an orientation along a position angle of 70°.

NGC 3962 has a rich galactic cluster system with 557 candidate globular clusters. The 17 brightest of these may be ultra compact dwarfs. The nucleus activity is catalogued as the LINER type, with a supermassive black hole mass estimated at 8.51×108 M☉.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Finlay, Warren H. (2014), Concise Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects, The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series (2nd ed.), Springer Cham, p. 272, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03170-5, ISBN 978-3-319-03169-9.
  2. 1 2 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023), "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 674: A1, arXiv:2208.00211, Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940, S2CID 244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  3. ↑ De Vaucouleurs, Gerard; et al. (1991), Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies, 9, New York: Springer-Verlag, Bibcode:1991rc3..book.....D.
  4. ↑ Ogando, Ricardo L. C.; et al. (June 2008), "Line Strengths of Early-Type Galaxies", The Astronomical Journal, 135 (6): 2424–2445, arXiv:0803.3477, Bibcode:2008AJ....135.2424O, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/6/2424.
  5. 1 2 Burke, Colin J.; et al. (January 2025), "Multiwavelength Constraints on the Local Black Hole Occupation Fraction", The Astrophysical Journal, 978 (1), id. 77, arXiv:2410.11177, Bibcode:2025ApJ...978...77B, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad94d9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Rampazzo, R.; et al. (June 2017), "Investigating early-type galaxy evolution with a multiwavelength approach. II. The UV structure of 11 galaxies with Swift-UVOT", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 602, id. A97, arXiv:1702.02013, Bibcode:2017A&A...602A..97R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629743.
  7. ↑ Ebrová, Ivana; et al. (December 2025), "Photometric stellar masses for galaxies in DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 704, id. A232, arXiv:2510.02257, Bibcode:2025A&A...704A.232E, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202453448.
  8. ↑ "NGC 3962", SIMBAD, Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg, retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ O'Meara, Stephen James (2007), Herschel 400 Observing Guide, Cambridge University Press, p. 141, ISBN 978-0-521-85893-9.
  10. ↑ Seligman, Courtney, "NGC Objects: NGC 3950 - 3999", Celestial Atlas, retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. 1 2 Salinas, R.; et al. (May 2015), "Isolated ellipticals and their globular cluster systems. III. NGC 2271, NGC 2865, NGC 3962, NGC 4240, and IC 4889", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 577, id. A59, arXiv:1502.06148, Bibcode:2015A&A...577A..59S, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425574.
  12. ↑ Birkinshaw, M.; Davies, R. L. (April 1985), "The orientations of the rotation axes of radio galaxies. I. Radio morphologies of bright elliptical galaxies.", Astrophysical Journal, 291: 32–44, Bibcode:1985ApJ...291...32B, doi:10.1086/163038.
  13. ↑ Bottinelli, L.; Gouguenheim, L. (July 1979), "The large-scale distribution of neutral hydrogen in the elliptical galaxy NGC 3962.", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 76: 176–178, Bibcode:1979A&A....76..176B.
  14. ↑ Leeuw, Lerothodi L.; et al. (September 2004), "Observations of Cold Dust in Nearby Elliptical Galaxies", The Astrophysical Journal, 612 (2): 837–847, arXiv:astro-ph/0406011, Bibcode:2004ApJ...612..837L, doi:10.1086/422795.
  15. ↑ Zeilinger, W. W.; et al. (December 1996), "The distribution of ionized gas in early-type galaxies. II. The velocity field of the ionized gas.", Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement, 120: 257–266, Bibcode:1996A&AS..120..257Z.
  16. ↑ Rampazzo, R.; et al. (April 2005), "Nearby early-type galaxies with ionized gas. I. Line-strength indices of the underlying stellar population", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 433 (2): 497–513, arXiv:astro-ph/0411802, Bibcode:2005A&A...433..497R, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200400122.
  17. ↑ Durré, Mark; et al. (October 2023), "Infrared spectroscopy of nearby radio active early-type galaxies - II: spectral atlas", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 524 (4): 4923–4938, arXiv:2307.05931, Bibcode:2023MNRAS.524.4923D, doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2083.