astronomy

NGC 3893

NGC 3893 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 3893 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 3893 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 50 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3893 is about 70,000 light years across.

Key takeaways

NGC 3893 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 3893 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 3893 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 3893 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 50 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3893 is about 70,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on February 9, 1788. NGC 3893 interacts with its satellite, NGC 3896.

Characteristics

NGC 3893 is a grand design spiral galaxy. It has two main arms, with high surface brightness and numerous HII regions. A faint spiral arm extends from the south to the north side making an arc on the east side of NGC 3893. The galaxy is categorised as SAB in NED, but Hernández-Toledo and Puerari did not detect a bar in their observations. The stellar disk of NGC 3893 is estimated to have a mass of 2.3 × 1010 M☉ and dominates gas dynamics in the optical radius. The star formation rate in NGC 3893 is about 5.62 M☉/year. Although no supernovae have been observed in NGC 3893 yet, Kōichi Itagaki discovered a luminous red nova, designated AT 2023uhx, on 7 October 2023 (type LRN, mag. 17.2).

Nearby galaxies NGC 3893 interacts with NGC 3896, a smaller galaxy lying at an angular distance of 3.9 arcminutes, and this results in a number of tidal features, like warps and bridges. A bridge of material is observed in HI imaging connecting the two galaxies. A stellar debris bridge is observed at the south side, better seen in B-band images, suggesting it is composed of young stars. The mass ratio between the two galaxies is about 0.025 - 0.031. NGC 3893 and its smaller companion NGC 3896 are members of the NGC 3877 group, which belongs to the south Ursa Major groups, part of the Virgo Supercluster. NGC 3906 lies 20 arcminutes to the southeast of NGC 3893. Other galaxies in the same group are NGC 3726, NGC 3928, NGC 3949, NGC 3985, and NGC 4010.

See also Messier 51 - a similar galaxy pair

References

External links

NGC 3893 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 3893

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 3893 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 3893 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 3893 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 3893

In research: NGC 3893 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 3893 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 3893 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Astronomical objects discovered in 1788, Discoveries by William Herschel, Intermediate spiral galaxies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 3893 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 3893 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 3893 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 3893 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 3893 in simple terms?

Why does NGC 3893 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 3893?

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 3893.