NGC 5264

{{Short description|Irregular galaxy in the M83 group of galaxies}}

{{Infobox galaxy

| name = NGC 5264

| image = NGC 5264 - Potw1634a.tif

| image_size = 260px

| caption = NGC 5264, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope

| epoch = J2000

| constellation name = Hydra

| ra = {{RA|13|41|36.683}}{{cite journal |bibcode=2003yCat.2246....0C |title=VizieR Online Data Catalog: 2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources (Cutri+ 2003) |journal=CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues |pages=II/246 |volume=2246 |last1=Cutri |first1=Roc M. |last2=Skrutskie |first2=Michael F. |last3=Van Dyk |first3=Schuyler D. |last4=Beichman |first4=Charles A. |last5=Carpenter |first5=John M. |last6=Chester |first6=Thomas |last7=Cambresy |first7=Laurent |last8=Evans |first8=Tracey E. |last9=Fowler |first9=John W. |last10=Gizis |first10=John E. |last11=Howard |first11=Elizabeth V. |last12=Huchra |first12=John P. |last13=Jarrett |first13=Thomas H. |last14=Kopan |first14=Eugene L. |last15=Kirkpatrick |first15=J. Davy |last16=Light |first16=Robert M. |last17=Marsh |first17=Kenneth A. |last18=McCallon |first18=Howard L. |last19=Schneider |first19=Stephen E. |last20=Stiening |first20=Rae |last21=Sykes |first21=Matthew J. |last22=Weinberg |first22=Martin D. |last23=Wheaton |first23=William A. |last24=Wheelock |first24=Sherry L. |last25=Zacarias |first25=N. |year=2003 |url=http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=II/246 }}

| dec = {{DEC|-29|54|47.25}}

| z = 0.001594{{cite web|url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=NGC+5264&extend=no&out_csys=Equatorial&out_equinox=J2000.0&obj_sort=RA+or+Longitude&of=pre_text&zv_breaker=30000.0&list_limit=5&img_stamp=YES|title=NED results for object NGC 5264|access-date=25 February 2017|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Infrared Processing and Analysis Center }}

| h_radial_v = 478 km/s

| dist_ly = {{convert|4.545|+/-|0.258|Mpc|Mly|abbr=on|lk=on|order=flip}}

| group_cluster = Centaurus A/M83 Group
(M83 subgroup)

| type = IB(s)m

| size = 11000 × 6500 ly
(3300 × 2000 pc)

| stars = 1 billion

| appmag_v = 12.39{{cite simbad|title=NGC 5264|access-date=25 February 2017}}

| appmag_b = 12.96

| absmag_v =

| size_v = 2.5{{prime}} × 1.5{{prime}}{{cite journal|title=The intriguing H I gas in NGC 5253: an infall of a diffuse, low-metallicity H I cloud?|author1=López-Sánchez, Á. R.|author2=Koribalski, B. S.|author3=van Eymeren, J.|author4=Esteban, C.|author5=Kirby, E.|author6=Jerjen, H.|author7=Lonsdale, N.|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=419|issue=2|pages=1051–1069|date=2012|bibcode=2012MNRAS.419.1051L|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19762.x|doi-access=free |arxiv=1109.0806|s2cid=118503447}}

| notes =

| names = DDO 242, UGCA 370, MCG-05-32-066, PGC 48467

}}

NGC 5264, also known as DDO 242, is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Hydra. It is part of the M83 subgroup of the Centaurus A/M83 Group, located some 15 million light years (4.5 megaparsecs) away. The galaxy was discovered on 30 March 1835 by John Herschel, and it was described as "very faint, pretty large, round, very little brighter middle" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.{{cite web|url=http://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ngc52a.htm#5264|title=New General Catalogue objects: NGC 5250 - 5299|author=Seligman, Courtney|website=cseligman.com|access-date=25 February 2017}}

NGC 5264 was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016. The galaxy is relatively small: it is a dwarf galaxy, a type of galaxy much smaller than normal spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies. In fact, it is only 11000 light years (3300 parsecs) wide at its widest; our own galaxy, Milky Way, in comparison, is about ten times larger.{{cite web |author=Elizabeth Howell |url=http://www.universetoday.com/75691/how-big-is-the-milky-way/ |title=How Big Is The Milky Way? |date=January 20, 2015 |publisher=Universe Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015234530/http://www.universetoday.com/75691/how-big-is-the-milky-way/ |archive-date=October 15, 2014 }} Dwarf galaxies like these usually have about a billion stars. NGC 5264 also is relatively blue-coloured; this is from it interacting with other galaxies, supplying it with gas for star formation.{{cite web|url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1634a/|title=An irregular island | ESA/Hubble|date=2016|website=spacetelescope.org|access-date=25 February 2017}}