NGC 3184
spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major
NGC 3184, also known as The Little Pinwheel Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Its name comes from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy. It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 18 March 1787. It has two HII regions named NGC 3180 and NGC 3181.
NGC 3184 houses a high abundance of heavy elements. The blue color of its spiral arms comes mostly from relatively few bright young blue stars. The bright stars that highlight the arms were created in huge density waves that circle the center.
Structure
NGC 3184 has two prominent spiral arms. They have constant pitch angles, which makes them both symmetrical.
Supernovae and astronomical transients
Six supernovae and astronomical transients have been observed in NGC 3184:
SN 1921B (type unknown, mag.
The public source identifies “NGC 3184” as spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around spiral, galaxy and constellation.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “NGC 3184”, the useful work is to connect “spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q829301. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1787.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “NGC 3184” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.