NGC 4753
| Designation(s) | NGC 4753 |
| Object Type(s) | Galaxy |
| Relevant Catalog(s) | All (Chron), NGC |
| Obs. Lat/Long | 42° 17', 073° 57' |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Date and Time Observed | 2026-04-21 00:15:00 |
| Instrument | EdgeHD 8" w/f7 reducer-1,422mm FL |
| Camera | Player One Apollo-M Mini |
| Image Details | Up is 0.5 degrees E of N. Transparency: Good. Seeing: Fair. Total integration time was 60m. Exposures 20s@225g, No Filter. Dithered and recentered in SharpCap. No guiding. |
| Description | This is a truly mysterious-looking lenticular galaxy with dust lanes surrounding the nucleus. We're apparently seeing it edge-on, which is not at all obvious given it's bulbous shape. It was carefully studied in the late 1980's by an American astrnomer, Tom Stieman-Cameron, resulting in publication of an Astronomical Journal article in 1992, who attributed the dust lanes to a merger with a dwarf galaxy.. From NOIRLab: Steiman-Cameron and his team found that a phenomenon known as differential precession is responsible for NGC 4753’s entangled dust lanes. Precession occurs when a rotating object's axis of rotation changes orientation, like a spinning top that wobbles as it loses momentum. And differential means that the rate of precession varies depending on the radius. In the case of a dusty accretion disk orbiting a galactic nucleus, the rate of precession is faster toward the center and slower near the edges. This varying, wobble-like motion results from the angle at which NGC 4753 and its former dwarf companion collided and is the cause of the strongly twisted dust lanes we see wrapped around the galaxy’s luminous nucleus today. “For a long time nobody knew what to make of this peculiar galaxy,” said Steiman-Cameron. “But by starting with the idea of accreted material smeared out into a disk, and then analyzing the three-dimensional geometry, the mystery was solved. |
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