astronomy

NGC 2683

NGC 2683 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NGC 2683 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 2683 is a field spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Lynx. It was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy" by the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory.

Key takeaways

NGC 2683 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect NGC 2683 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 2683 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 2683 is a field spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Lynx. It was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy" by the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory. It was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel on February 5, 1788. It is viewed nearly edge-on from Earth's location in space and is located about 30 million light-years away, although previous estimates also give distances between 16 and 25 million light-years. NGC 2683 is receding from Earth at 410 km/s (250 mi/s), and from the Galactic Center at 375 km/s (233 mi/s).

Visibility The reddened light from the center of the galaxy appears yellowish due to the intervening gas and dust located within the outer arms of NGC 2683. Its apparent magnitude is 10.6 making it not visible to the human eye without the aid of a small telescope.

Characteristics While usually considered an unbarred spiral galaxy, recent research suggests it may in fact be a barred spiral galaxy; its bar is hard to see due to its high inclination. Further support for the presence of a bar stems from the X-shaped structure seen near its centre, which is thought to be associated with a buckling instability of a stellar bar. It is also both smaller and less luminous than the Milky Way with very little neutral hydrogen or molecular hydrogen and a low luminosity in the infrared, which suggests a currently low rate of star formation. NGC 2683 is rich in globular clusters, hosting about 300 of them, twice the number found in the Milky Way. Due to its vast distance and complexity (due to the association of globular clusters bound to it), NGC 2638's mass has not been calculated as accurately as it could be. Otherwise its volume and vector motions are reasonably well known and characterized. Several satellite galaxies are known in the vicinity of NGC 2683. The largest is KK 69, with a Holmberg diameter of 12,000 light-years (3.7 kiloparsecs). It is a dwarf transitional galaxy, with properties intermediate between those of dwarf irregular galaxies and dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Another is KK 70, which is about half the diameter of KK 69. Two additional dwarf galaxies are assumed to be satellites: they are N2683dw1 and N2683dw2, which are dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal galaxies, respectively.

Gallery

References

External links

NGC 2683 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images APOD, 5 Feb 2014

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NGC 2683

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 2683 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NGC 2683 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NGC 2683 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NGC 2683

In research: NGC 2683 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses NGC 2683 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: NGC 2683 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Field galaxies, Lynx (constellation), NGC objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 2683 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study NGC 2683 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 2683 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain NGC 2683 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 2683 in simple terms?

NGC 2683 is a field spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Lynx. It was nicknamed the "UFO Galaxy" by the Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory.

Why does NGC 2683 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NGC 2683?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NGC 2683.