NGC 5101 - (R1R2')SB(rs)a

NGC 5101

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Type: (R1R2')SB(rs)a

Filter: B

Telescope: CTIO 1.5-m
North up , East left
Field Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.8 arcminutes

RC3 Type: (R)SB(rs)0/a
RSA Type: SBa
Surface Brightness Range Displayed: 18.0-26.0 mag per square arcsec
Absolute Blue Magnitude: -21.0

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Description:

The inner regions of this galaxy strongly resemble those seen in NGC 2217 : a strong bar with a well-defined, slightly broken inner pseudoring of the wrapped arm type. Outside this zone, there is a complex and very extensive two-armed spiral pattern which we interpret as an R1R2' OLR subclass double ring-pseudoring morphology. This is one of the largest examples of such a feature in the sky. The R1 component is well-defined but slightly asymmetric; it shows no dimpling and may not be aligned exactly perpendicular to the bar. The R2' component is very well-defined. Both features are lightly patchy while the inner pseudoring is very smooth in comparison. Thus, most of the recent star formation is occurring in the outer rings.