astronomy

NGC 3941

NGC 3941 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 3941 rather than just read about it. In short: NGC 3941 is a barred lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 40 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3941 is about 40,000 light years across.

Key takeaways

NGC 3941 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 3941 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NGC 3941 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

NGC 3941 is a barred lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 40 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3941 is about 40,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.

Characteristics The galaxy has a counterrotating extended gas disk, which was possibly formed by a galaxy merger of accretion of gas with oppositely directed angular momentum. The disk has low velocity dispersion throughout, which suggests it has settled into equilibrium. The gas is found primarily in two rings. The inner appears almost circular in HI imaging, which may mean it is inclined ~20° or more with respect to the stellar disk, whereas the outer ring has approximately the same ellipticity with the stellar disk. The stellar disk is symmetric and there are evidence of weak spiral arms outside the primary bar. In the infrared Ks-band, the bar has ansae-type morphology and in the inner elliptical there is an inner disc showing two-armed spirals. Based on the fact that the spiral arms and the gas are rotating in different directions it has been suggested that the inner ionised gas and the outer HI gas are inclined, almost perpendicular to the stellar disk. The galaxy features also a secondary bar. NGC 3941 is type 2 Seyfert galaxy. In the centre of the galaxy lies a supermassive black hole whose mass is estimated to be, based on velocity dispersion, 141 million (108.14) M☉.

Supernova One supernova has been observed in NGC 3941: SN 2018pv (Type Ia, mag 15.1) was discovered by Masaki Tsuboi on 3 February 2018. It reached magnitude 12.7, making it tied with SN 2018aoz for the brightest supernova of 2018.

Nearby galaxies NGC 3941 forms a small galaxy group with NGC 3930 and UGC 6955, which is part of the Ursa Major Cluster.

References

External links

NGC 3941 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 3941

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NGC 3941 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 3941 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 3941 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 3941

In research: NGC 3941 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 3941 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 3941 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Barred lenticular galaxies, NGC objects, Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NGC 3941 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 3941 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NGC 3941 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 3941 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NGC 3941 in simple terms?

Why does NGC 3941 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 3941?

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 3941.