| NGC 4299 | |
|---|---|
Sloan Digital Sky Survey image of NGC 4299 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 12h 21m 40.5s |
| Declination | 11° 30′ 00″ |
| Redshift | 0.000791 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 237 km/s |
| Distance | 55 Mly (16.8 Mpc) |
| Group or cluster | Virgo Cluster |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 12.88 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SAB(s)dm |
| Size | ~36,000 ly (11 kpc) (estimated) |
| Apparent size (V) | 1.7 x 1.6 |
| Other designations | |
| VCC 491, IRAS 12191+1146, UGC 7414, MCG +02-32-010, PGC 39968, CGCG 70-25 | |
NGC 4299 is a featureless spiral galaxy located about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on March 15, 1784 and is a member of the Virgo Cluster.
NGC 4299 forms an interacting pair with NGC 4294.
NGC 4299 has a fairly featureless disk with a very small, weak bulge and weak, asymmetric spiral arms plus numerous bright HII regions.
At the center of NGC 4299 lies a nuclear star cluster with a diameter of ~5.9 ly (1.8 pc).
NGC 4299 has a truncated Hα disk with the outer extent of the Hα having an irregular distribution except in the southwest where it forms a well-defined ridge. This appears to be the result of ram-pressure.
As a result of a tidal interaction with NGC 4294, NGC 4299 has a disturbed optical and HI morphology, with asymmetric spiral arms, a small, weak bar and a high global star formation rate that appears to have been enhanced by ram-pressure.
Chung et al. identified that NGC 4299 has a one sided tail of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI). The tail points to the southwest and appears to be a result of ram-pressure or by a tidal interaction with NGC 4294. The tail has no optical counterpart and is oriented parallel to the HI tail found in NGC 4294.
NGC 4299 appears to have a second tail pointing to the southeast that is much broader and lower in HI surface density than the main tail.
NGC 4299 may harbor an intermediate-mass black hole with an estimated mass ranging from 7,000 (7*10^3) to 200,000 (2*10^5) solar masses.