NGC 6109

NGC 6109
The radio galaxy NGC 6109.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationCorona Borealis
Right ascension16h 17m 40.54s
Declination+35° 00′ 15.38″
Redshift0.029815
Heliocentric radial velocity8938 km/s
Distance487 Mly (149.33 Mpc
Apparent magnitude (V)13.0
Characteristics
TypeE/S0; BrCLG, LERG LINER
Size~188,000 ly (57.5 kpc) (estimated)
Other designations
UGC 10316, 4C +35.40, CoNFIG 245, CGCG 196-026, PGC 57748, GIN 558, NSA 043838, MCG +06-36-016, NVSS J161738+350048, RX J1617.6+3501

NGC 6109 is a lenticular galaxy and a LINER galaxy located in the constellation of Corona Borealis. It is located 487 million light-years from Earth with redshift of (z) 0.029. It was discovered by French astronomer Édouard Stephan on July 7, 1880, who depicted the galaxy as a small round faint object.

Description

NGC 6109 is classified as a Fanaroff-Riley Class Type I radio galaxy with an active galactic nucleus. A member of a poor galaxy cluster ZW 1615.8+3505, it contains a strong head-tail radio source. When observed with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), the galaxy is mainly dominated by radio emission, with a tail-like structure that is extending towards the northwest direction by about 250 kiloparsecs in extent. Two other background sources are present; one being superimposed on the tail and the other located at the end of the tail. Studies have also indicated the presence of X-ray emission, depicted as point-like and originating from its main nucleus.

There is a jet present in NGC 6109. When observed, the jet is noted to display a collimated appearance on the northwest side of the core region and also shown to be bright for 5 arcseconds before dimming away. Within the fainter region the jet's opening angle increases and radio emission that is bending towards the direction of north then subsequently towards west. At the southeast of its radio core, a counter-jet is present with the emission evidently shown as fainter at a center of a component thus giving it the appearance of a doughnut. The spectral index of the core is estimated to be 0.05 ± 0.01.

NGC 6109 is a low-luminosity radio galaxy. It has a south-eastern component in which a steep spectrum is noted mainly in linear polarization that is located at the leading edge of the source. Polarization is also varying between 10-30% in both the source's head and the low-brightness part at the end of the tail structure. A central supermassive black hole mass was calculated to be 8.56 M☉.

Supernovae

Two supernovae have been discovered in NGC 6109.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "NED Search Results for NGC 6109". NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  2. ↑ "Revised NGC Data for NGC 6109". spider.seds.org. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rawes, Josie; Birkinshaw, Mark; Worrall, Diana M (2018-08-01). "Extreme jet bending on kiloparsec scales: the 'doughnut' in NGC 6109". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 480 (3): 3644–3654. arXiv:1808.01967. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2074. ISSN 0035-8711.
  4. ↑ "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 6100 - 6149". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  5. ↑ Miller, Neal A.; Owen, Frazer N.; Burns, Jack O.; Ledlow, Michael J.; Voges, Wolfgang (November 1999). "An X-Ray and Optical Investigation of the Environments around Nearby Radio Galaxies". The Astronomical Journal. 118 (5): 1988–2001. arXiv:astro-ph/9908244. Bibcode:1999AJ....118.1988M. doi:10.1086/301086. ISSN 0004-6256.
  6. ↑ "Unusual doughnut-shaped jet observed in the galaxy NGC 6109". Archived from the original on 2024-08-13. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  7. ↑ Tomita, Akihiko; Maehara, Hideo; Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.; Nakanishi, Kouichiro; Honma, Mareki; Tutui, Yoshinori; Sofue, Yoshiaki (June 1999). "Optical and CO Radio Observations of Poor Cluster Zwicky 1615.8+3505". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 51 (3): 285–300. arXiv:astro-ph/9807072. doi:10.1093/pasj/51.3.285. ISSN 0004-6264.
  8. ↑ Fanti, R.; Lari, C.; Parma, P.; Ekers, R. D. (January 1981). "The polarization of the tail radio source B2 1615+35. A discussion of the physical conditions and acceleration mechanism in a tail radio source". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 94: 61–66. Bibcode:1981A&A....94...61F. ISSN 0004-6361.
  9. ↑ Feretti, L.; Fanti, R.; Parma, P.; Massaglia, S.; Trussoni, E.; Brinkmann, W. (June 1995). "ROSAT observations of the B2 radio galaxies 1615+35 and 1621+38: implications for the radio source confinement". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 298: 699. arXiv:astro-ph/9411076. Bibcode:1995A&A...298..699F. ISSN 0004-6361.
  10. ↑ Gregorini, L.; Klein, U.; Parma, P.; Schlickeiser, R.; Wielebinski, R. (July 1992). "High-frequency radio continuum observations of low-luminosity radio galaxies. I. A sample of sources with angular sizes 4'". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 94: 13–35. ISSN 0365-0138.
  11. ↑ Wu, Qingwen; Cao, Xinwu; Wang, Ding-Xiong (July 2011). "Evidence for Rapidly Rotating Black Holes in Fanaroff-Riley I Radio Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal. 735 (1): 50. arXiv:1104.3235. Bibcode:2011ApJ...735...50W. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/735/1/50. ISSN 0004-637X.
  12. ↑ Singer, D.; Beutler, B.; Swift, B.; Li, W.; Yamaoka, H.; Itagaki, K. (2003). "Supernovae 2003hz, 2003ia, 2003ib, 2003ic, 2003id". International Astronomical Union Circular (8201): 1. Bibcode:2003IAUC.8201....1S.
  13. ↑ Matheson, T.; Calkins, M. L. (2003). "Supernova 2003ia in NGC 6109". International Astronomical Union Circular (8204): 3. Bibcode:2003IAUC.8204....3M.
  14. ↑ "SN 2003ia". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  15. ↑ Rex, J.; Cenko, S. B.; Li, W.; Filippenko, A. V. (2010). "Supernovae 2010an and 2010ao". Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams (2211): 1. Bibcode:2010CBET.2211....1R.
  16. ↑ "SN 2010an". w.astro.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2025-12-06.
  17. ↑ Silverman, J. M.; Kleiser, I. K. W.; Morton, A. J. L.; Filippenko, A. V. (2010). "Supernovae 2010an, 2010ao, 2010au, and 2010al". Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams (2223): 1. Bibcode:2010CBET.2223....1S.
  18. ↑ "SN 2010an". Transient Name Server. IAU. Retrieved 6 December 2025.