NGC 5172 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is , which corresponds to a Hubble distance of . However, 13 non-redshift measurements give a closer mean distance of . It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 7 May 1826.
NGC 5172 has a possible active galactic nucleus, i.e. it has a compact region at the center of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that this luminosity is not produced by the stars.
According to Abraham Mahtessian, NGC 5172 and form a pair of galaxies.
Supernovae Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 5172: SN 1998cc (TypeIb, mag. 18.1) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) on 15 May 1998. SN 2001R (TypeII, mag. 18.5) was discovered by LOTOSS (Lick Observatory and Tenagra Observatory Supernova Searches) on 6 January 2001.
See also List of NGC objects (5001–6000)
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