NGC 596

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

{{Infobox galaxy

| name = NGC 596

| image = 250px

| caption = SDSS image of NGC 596

| credit =

| epoch = J2000

| type = E+ pec {{cite web

| title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database

| work=Results for NGC 596

| url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=NGC+596

| access-date=2017-05-16 }}

| ra = {{RA|01|32|52.1}}

| dec = {{DEC|-07|01|55}}

| dist_ly = 67 ±13 Mly (20.6±4.0 Mpc)

| z = 1876 ± 11 km/s

| appmag_v = 10.9

| size_v = 3′.2 × 2′.1

| constellation name = Cetus

| notes =

| names = MCG -01-05-005, PGC 5766

}}

NGC 596 is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Cetus. The galaxy lies 65 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 596 is approximately 60,000 light years across. The galaxy shows an outer envelope and is a merger remnant. The surface brightness profile is smooth and featureless.{{cite journal|last1=Faber|first1=S. M.|last2=Tremaine|first2=Scott|last3=Ajhar|first3=Edward A.|last4=Byun|first4=Yong-Ik|last5=Dressler|first5=Alan|last6=Gebhardt|first6=Karl|last7=Grillmair|first7=Carl|last8=Kormendy|first8=John|last9=Lauer|first9=Tod R.|last10=Richstone|first10=Douglas|title=The Centers of Early-Type Galaxies with HST. IV. Central Parameter Relations.|journal=The Astronomical Journal|date=November 1997|volume=114|pages=1771|doi=10.1086/118606|url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1997AJ....114.1771F&data_type=PDF_HIGH&whole_paper=YES&type=PRINTER&filetype=.pdf|arxiv = astro-ph/9610055 |bibcode = 1997AJ....114.1771F |s2cid=14016184}} The galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole, whose mass is estimated to be 170 million (10^8.24) $\backslash begin\{smallmatrix\}M\_\backslash odot\backslash end\{smallmatrix\}$.{{cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Xian|last2=Liu|first2=F. K.|last3=Magorrian|first3=John|title=Tidal Disruption of Stellar Objects by Hard Supermassive Black Hole Binaries|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|date=20 March 2008|volume=676|issue=1|pages=54–69|doi=10.1086/527412|arxiv = 0712.0246 |bibcode = 2008ApJ...676...54C |s2cid=17812962}}

NGC 596 belongs at the NGC 584 galaxy group, which also includes the galaxies NGC 584, which lies 25 minutes to the northwest,{{cite book|last1=O'Meara|first1=Steve|title=Steve O'Meara's Herschel 400 observing guide : how to find and explore 400 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies discovered by William and Caroline Herschel|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge university press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521858939|page=304|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyh9fAC_tpIC&pg=PA304|access-date=18 May 2017}} NGC 600, NGC 615 and NGC 636.{{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 |bibcode=2011MNRAS.412.2498M|arxiv=1011.6277|s2cid=119194025}}

The galaxy is included in the Herschel 400 Catalogue. It lies about 2 and half degrees northeast from theta Ceti.{{cite book|last1=O'Meara|first1=Steve|title=Steve O'Meara's Herschel 400 observing guide : how to find and explore 400 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies discovered by William and Caroline Herschel|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge university press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521858939|page=304|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyh9fAC_tpIC&pg=PA304}}