Distance and Mass of the NGC 253 Galaxy Group

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · The Astronomical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ABE8D1· OSTI ID:23159207

Karachentsev, Igor D. ^[1]; Tully, R. Brent; Anand, Gagandeep S. ^[2]; Rizzi, Luca ^[3]

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1. Special Astrophysical Observatory, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachai-Cherkessian Republic 369167 (Russian Federation)
2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
3. W.M. Keck Observatory, 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, HI 96743 (United States)

Two dwarf galaxies, WOC2017-07 and PGC 704814, located in the vicinity of the nearby luminous spiral galaxy NGC 253 were observed with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. Their distances of 3.62 ± 0.18 Mpc and 3.66 ± 0.18 Mpc were derived using the tip of the red giant branch method. These distances are consistent with the dwarf galaxies being members of the NGC 253 group. Based on the radial velocities and projected separations of seven assumed dwarf companions, we estimated the total mass of NGC 253 to be (8.1 ± 2.6)10{sup 11} M {sub ⊙}, giving a total-mass-to-K-luminosity ratio of M {sub orb}/L {sub K} = (8.5 ± 2.7)M {sub ⊙}/L {sub ⊙}. A notable property of NGC 253 is its declined rotation curve. NGC 253 joins four other luminous spiral galaxies in the Local Volume with declined rotation curves (NGC 2683, NGC 2903, NGC 3521, and NGC 5055) that together have the low average total-mass-to-luminosity ratio, M {sub orb}/L {sub K} = (5.5 ± 1.1)M {sub ⊙}/L {sub ⊙}. This value is only ∼1/5 of the corresponding ratio for the Milky Way and M31.

• OSTI ID: 23159207
• Journal Information: The Astronomical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astronomical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 161; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
LUMINOSITY
MILKY WAY
RADIAL VELOCITY
ROTATION
TELESCOPES