| NGC 4666 | |
| Image Scale: | 1.4 |
| Dist Ly: | 16.83± |
| Appmag V: | 10.8 |
| Type: | SABc |
| Notes: | Starburst |
| Names: | NGC 4666, IRAS F12425-0011, MCG+00-33-008, MRC 1242-001, PMN J1245-0027, UGC 7926, UZC J124508.0-002744, PGC 42975 |
NGC 4666 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Virgo, located at a distance of approximately 16.83Mpc from the Milky Way. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. It is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.[1] John L. E. Dreyer described it as "bright, very large, much extended 45°±, pretty suddenly brighter middle". It is a member of an interacting system with NGC 4668 and a dwarf galaxy, and belongs to a small group that also includes NGC 4632.
The morphological classification of this galaxy is SABc, which indicates a weak bar around the nucleus with moderately wound spiral arms. Viewed nearly edge-on, its galactic plane is inclined at an angle of to the line of sight from the Earth, with the major axis aligned along a position angle of 40°. There is an active galactic nucleus that shows a modest level of activity and is most likely heavily obscured by gas and dust. The central point source has been detected in the radio and X-ray bands.
This is a starburst galaxy that is noteworthy for its vigorous star formation, which creates an unusual superwind of out-flowing gas. This wind is not visible at optical wavelengths, but is prominent in X-rays, and has been observed by the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope. The estimated star formation rate is yr–1, with a density of yr−1 kpc−2. Unlike in many other starburst galaxies, the star formation is spread across the disk rather than being more concentrated.
Three supernovae have been observed in NGC 4666:
