NGC 10548, Barred Spiral Galaxy

Barred Spiral Galaxy UGC 10548 - Supernova 2003 dw

Barred Spiral Galaxy UGC 10548 and Supernova 2003 dw
Image taken with an ST-9E CCD camera thru Kopernik's 20 inch F/8.1 telescope. A 15 minute exposure taken at 5:05 UT on May 19, 2003. The field of view is 8x8 arc minutes with North at the top.

Supernova 2003 dw:

Discovered April 26th, 2003, by Doug Rich, Hampden, ME.
Magnitude at discovery: 16.7
Type: Ia
The supernova is magnitude 18.3 in the Kopernik image, taken on May 19, 2003 at 5:05 UT.
IAUC 8129 noted that the spectrum of this object shows an expansion velocity of 12,500 km/s.

Follow this Link to a NASA Web site on supernovas. It has a very nice animation and a description of what these objects are.

Spiral Galaxy UGC 10548:

This 14.5 magnitude barred spiral galaxy is in the constellation of Draco. There are two long smooth spiral arms extending from the end of the bar. They are very faint and nearly form a complete ring before continuing for another 180 degrees around the bar.

Based on the published red shift, (and a Hubble Constant of 62 Km/sec per Mpc) a rough distance estimate for UGC 10548 and SN 2003dw is 474 million light years, with a galaxy diameter of about 207,000 light years.

UGC 10548
Magnitude: 14.5
Constellation: Draco
RA: 16h 45m 52.4s
Dec: +59° 37' 16" Epoch 2000
Size (mins): 1.5' x 0.9'
Classification: Barred Spiral Galaxy

Click below to

George Normandin, KAS

June 1st, 2003