Messier 58

Messier 58

I chose this galaxy because it is known as a very bright galaxy with a supernova.
Chemicals: Oxygen and Hydrogen

Location: R.A. 12h 37m 43.5s, Dec. +11° 49′ 05″
Stellar Classification: type II supernova, SN 1988A, and type I supernova, SN 1989M

Messier 58 (also known as M58 and NGC 4579) is a barred spiral galaxy located within the constellation Virgo, approximately 68 million light-years away from Earth. It is one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, and it is said to be a very bright galaxy, mottled, irregularly round and much brighter toward the middle. It is located at R.A. 12h 37m 43.5s, Dec. +11° 49′ 05″.

Messier 58 has a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus, where a starburst may be present as well as a supermassive black hole with a mass of around 70 million solar masses. It is also one of the very few galaxies known to possess a UCNR (Ultra-Compact Nuclear Ring), a series of star-forming regions located in a very small ring around the center of the galaxy. Two supernovae have been studied in the M58 galaxy. A type II supernova dubbed as SN 1988A, had an apparent magnitude of 13.5 from its center. A Type I supernova dubbed as SN 1989M was then found with an apparent magnitude of 12.2 from its nucleus.


As found in most spiral barred galaxies, using narrow-band interference filters, regions in the barred spiral galaxies have shown an abundance of O/H gradients derived from the abundance indicators. It is concluded that the global abundance gradients of spiral galaxies with a barred structure are in general shallower than gradients of normal galaxies. The slopes of O/H gradients are analyzed as a function of two properties of bars: the relative length of the bar with respect to the size of the disk, and the bar ellipticity, defined by the axis ratio of the bar. It is found that gradients are flatter when the length or the ellipticity of the bar increases. This result is consistent with recent models of radial flows. These observations indicate that large-scale mixing of the interstellar gas occurs across the disks of barred spiral galaxies and affects the radial distribution of elements.

Sources:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2015, July 11). Messier 58. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_58

Pierre, M., & Jean-Rene, R. (1994, March). The influence of bars on the chemical composition of spiral galaxies. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/234287471_The_influence_of_bars_on_the_chemical_composition_of_spiral_galaxies

 Visible Spectra of the Elements. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015, from http://www.umop.net/spctelem.htm