NGC 3414 - S0o pec

NGC 3414

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Type: S0o pec

Filter: B

Telescope: NOT 2.5-m
North up , East left
Field Dimensions: 6.4 x 6.0 arcminutes

RC3 Type: SB(s)0o?
RSA Type: S01/2(0)/a
Surface Brightness Range Displayed: 16.9-27.0 mag per square arcsec
Absolute Blue Magnitude: -20.1

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Description:

Although this galaxy appears at first sight to be a barred S0, the apparent bar both flares and warps near the ends and seems to ``stick out" out of the bright circular region. In a study of inner polar rings in S0 galaxies , Sil'chenko and Afanasiev (2004) included NGC 3414 and called it ``the most mysterious object in our sample." They summarize previous observations and state that the roundish zone is actually an exponential disk, so the galaxy is not simply an edge-on disk imbedded in a strong bulge. Instead, there is the possibility that the apparent bar is a large-scale polar ring (see also Whitmore et al. 1990). To add to the interest of this galaxy, the color index map shows a small round ring of slightly enhanced blue colors in the central region of the galaxy and no evidence of dust absorption due to the apparent bar, if this feature were actually an edge-on disk.