NGC 53 - (R')SB(r)ab

NGC 53

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Type: (R')SB(r)ab

Filter: B

Telescope: CTIO 1.5-m
North left , East down
Field Dimensions: 3.0 x 2.3 arcminutes

RC3 Type: (R')SB(r)b
RSA Type: -----
Surface Brightness Range Displayed: 18.5-26.0 mag per square arcsec
Absolute Blue Magnitude: -20.6

De Vaucouleurs Atlas Description:

The Sab classification is based on the patchiness and tightness of the spiral structure defining the inner ring , and the smoothness of the outer pseudoring . The inner ring is nearly complete, but shows a peculiar break where a bright part of an arm emerges. This unusual break, and the bright arm that comes out, points approximately to a small galaxy whose radial velocity is 37,300 km/s, compared to 4600 km/s for NGC 53 itself. The appearance suggested to Arp (1980) that the small high redshift companion is physically associated with NGC 53 . The outer pseudoring is also very good and is made of possibly three faint arms. When the galaxy is deprojected, both ring features turn out to be fairly circular. Crocker, Baugus, and Buta (1996) showed that most of the HII regions in NGC 53 are confined to the inner ring , and that these are distributed roughly uniformly around the ring (see book Figure 2.40).