Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Markarian 177

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Right ascension
  
11 33 23.474

Magnitude
  
15.7

Constellation
  
Ursa Major

Redshift
  
0.008088

Declination
  
+55° 0′ 0″

Apparent magnitude (V)
  
15.7

Distance
  
90,000,000 ly (28 Mpc) h−1 0.678

Notable features
  
SDSS J113323.97+550415.8 — Ejected supermassive black hole

Similar
  
Holmberg II, GN‑z11, NGC 2857

Markarian 177 is a blue compact dwarf galaxy located 90,000,000 ly (28 Mpc) away, at the constellation of Ursa Major, in the bowl of the Big Dipper asterism. It was discovered by the astronomer Benjamin Markarian.

Markarian 177 is a peculiar galaxy that is receding from us at a rate of 2425 km/s. It has a visual apparent size of 0.41×0.34 arcmin.

SDSS1133

Near the galaxy, at over 2,600 ly (800 pc) from it, is a luminous X-ray source named SDSS J113323.97+550415.8 (SDSS1133), in orbit around Markarian 177. The source has been stable for some decades from the 1950s through the 2000s, and the emission region is some 40 ly (12 pc) wide. It may be an ejected supermassive black hole from a galaxy that interacted with Markarian 177.

Alternative explanations for the X-ray source include it possibly being a luminous blue variable star that has recently undergone a supernova in the early 2000s, where for the previous five decades it had been in continuous eruption.

References

Markarian 177 Wikipedia