astronomy

NGC 2936

NGC 2936 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 2936 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 2936, also known as the Penguin Galaxy or the Porpoise Galaxy, is an interacting spiral galaxy located at a distance of 326 million light years, in the constellation Hydra. NGC 2936 is interacting with elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, located just beneath it.

Key takeaways

NGC 2936 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 2936 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 2936 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 2936, also known as the Penguin Galaxy or the Porpoise Galaxy, is an interacting spiral galaxy located at a distance of 326 million light years, in the constellation Hydra. NGC 2936 is interacting with elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, located just beneath it. They were both discovered by Albert Marth on Mar 3, 1864. To some astronomers, the galaxy looks like a penguin or a porpoise. NGC 2936, NGC 2937, and PGC 1237172 are included in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 142 in the category "Material emanating from elliptical galaxies". On 20 June 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope examined and photographed NGC 2936. NGC 2936 once had a flat, spiral disk. The orbits of the galaxy's stars have been perturbed due to gravitational tidal interactions with NGC 2937. Gas from the center of NGC 2936 became compressed during the encounter with NGC 2937, which is shown as blue knots close to NGC 2937. The red dust that was inside the center of the galaxy has been mostly thrown out due to the collision. During the collision, gas coming from NGC 2936 triggered star formation. PGC 1237172, an unrelated bluish irregular galaxy or edge-on spiral galaxy, is located just off to the side of NGC 2936. It is located 230 million light years away, making it closer to the Earth than the NGC 2936 collision, and it happens to be located next to two unrelated stars from the Milky Way. The brightest star in this galaxy is USNOA2 0900-06460021.

See also List of NGC objects (2001–3000)

References

External links Media related to NGC 2936 at Wikimedia Commons NGC 2936 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NGC 2936

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 2936 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 2936 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 2936 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 2936

In research: NGC 2936 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 2936 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 2936 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hydra (constellation), Interacting galaxies, NGC objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 2936 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 2936 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 2936 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 2936 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 2936 in simple terms?

Why does NGC 2936 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 2936?

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 2936.