NGC 4696

{{Short description|Elliptical galaxy in the constellation Centaurus}}

{{Infobox Galaxy

| name = NGC 4696

| image = Ngc4696.jpg

| image_size = 320px

|caption = A multiwavelength image of NGC 4696. X-ray emission is red, radio emission is blue, and infrared emission is green.

| credit=

| epoch = J2000

| type = E1 pec{{cite web

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work=Results for NGC 4696

| url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/

| access-date=2006-10-19 }}

| ra = {{RA|12|48|49.3}}

| dec = {{DEC|-41|18|40}}

| dist_ly = 116 ± 9 Mly (35 ± 3 Mpc){{cite journal

| author=J. L. Tonry | display-authors=4 | author2=A. Dressler | author3=J. P. Blakeslee | author4=E. A. Ajhar | author5=A. B. Fletcher | author6=G. A. Luppino | author7=M. R. Metzger | author8=C. B. Moore

| title=The SBF Survey of Galaxy Distances. IV. SBF Magnitudes, Colors, and Distances

| journal=Astrophysical Journal

| date=2001

| volume=546

| issue=2

| pages=681–693

| bibcode=2001ApJ...546..681T

| doi=10.1086/318301 |arxiv = astro-ph/0011223 | s2cid=17628238 }}

| z = 2958 ± 15 km/s

| appmag_v = 11.4

| size_v = 4.5{{prime}} × 3.2{{prime}}

| constellation name = Centaurus

| notes =

| names = PGC 43296

}}

NGC 4696 is an elliptical galaxy. It lies around {{Convert|145,000,000|ly|pc}} away in the constellation Centaurus. It is the brightest galaxy in the Centaurus Cluster, a large, rich cluster of galaxies in the constellation of the same name.{{cite book

| author=A. Sandage | author2= J. Bedke

| date=1994

| title=Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies

| publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington

| location=Washington, D.C.

| isbn=978-0-87279-667-6}} The galaxy is surrounded by many dwarf elliptical galaxies also located within the cluster. There is believed to be a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/the-arrhythmic-beating-of-a-black-hole-heart.html|title=The Arrhythmic Beating of a Black Hole Heart|last=Mohon|first=Lee|date=2017-04-18|work=NASA|access-date=2017-11-25|language=en}}

One supernova, SN 2017ejb (type Ia, mag. 17.2), was discovered in NGC 4696 on 28 May, 2017.[https://www.wis-tns.org/object/2017ejb Transient Name Server entry for SN 2017ejb.] Retrieved 24 March 2023.