NGC 5861

{{short description|Galaxy in the constellation Libra}}

{{Infobox galaxy

| name = NGC 5861

| image = NGC 5861 PanSTARRS1 i.r.g.jpg

| caption = NGC 5861 by PanSTARRS

| credit =

| epoch = J2000

| type = SAB(rs)c {{cite web

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work=Results for NGC 5861

| url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=NGC+5861

| access-date=2016-01-18 }}

| ra = {{RA|15|09|16.1}}

| dec = {{DEC|-11|19|18}}

| dist_ly = 84 Mly (25.9 Mpc)

| z = 1851 ± 1 km/s

| appmag_v = 11.6

| size_v = 3.0{{prime}} × 1.7{{prime}}

| constellation name = Libra

| notes =

| names = MCG -02-39-003, IRAS 15065-1107, PGC 54097

}}

NGC 5861 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in constellation Libra. It is located at a distance of about 85 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 5861 is about 80,000 light years across.

File:NGC5861 - HST - Potw2019a.tif ]]

The galaxy features two long spiral arms that dominate the optical disk.

{{cite book | isbn=978-9401141147| title=Toward a New Millennium in Galaxy Morphology: From z=0 to the Lyman Break| last1=Block| first1=David L.| last2=Puerari| first2=Ivânio| last3=Stockton| first3=Alan| last4=Ferreira| first4=Dewet| date=6 December 2012| publisher=Springer | page=16}} The one arm can be traced from its beginning at the center for nearly one and a half revolutions without branching, whereas the other starts to form fragments after one revolution, forming a moderately chaotic pattern.{{cite book|last1=Sandage|first1=A.|last2=Bedke|first2=J.|title=The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies. Volume I|date=1994|publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington}} The galaxy hosts a hydroxyl megamaser.{{cite journal|last1=Darling|first1=Jeremy|last2=Giovanelli|first2=Riccardo|title=A Search for OH Megamasers at z > 0.1. III. The Complete Survey|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|date=July 2002|volume=124|issue=1|pages=100–126|doi=10.1086/341166|arxiv = astro-ph/0205185 |bibcode = 2002AJ....124..100D |s2cid=7340232}}

NGC 5861 is the foremost member of a small galaxy group that also includes NGC 5858, which lies 9.6 arcmin north, forming a non-interactive pair.{{cite book|last1=de Vaucouleurs, G., de Vaucouleurs, A., and Corwin, H.G.|title=Second Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies|date=1976|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin}} It is located within the same galaxy cloud with NGC 5878.{{cite journal|last1=Makarov|first1=Dmitry|last2=Karachentsev|first2=Igor|title=Galaxy groups and clouds in the local (z~ 0.01) Universe|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=21 April 2011|volume=412|issue=4|pages=2498–2520|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18071.x|doi-access=free |arxiv=1011.6277|bibcode=2011MNRAS.412.2498M|s2cid=119194025}}