NGC 3120 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Antlia. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is , which corresponds to a Hubble distance of . However, 17 non-redshift measurements give a much closer mean distance of . It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 22 January 1838.
NGC 3120 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.
NGC 3038 Group NGC 3120 is a member of the NGC 3038 group (also known as LGG 184). This group has 6 galaxies, including , NGC 3087, , , and .
Supernovae Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 3120: SN 1999ca (TypeII, mag. 17) was discovered by S. Woodings, R. Martin, and A. Williams on 27 April 1999. SN 2010F (Type II, mag. 14.8) was discovered by The CHilean Automatic Supernova sEarch (CHASE) on 13 January 2010.
See also List of NGC objects (3001–4000)
References
External links