NGC 3003
galaxy
NGC 3003 is a nearly edge-on barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Leo Minor, discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on December 7, 1785. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 11.78, and spans an angular size of 5.7′ × 1.4′. NGC 3003 is located at a distance of 19.5 Mpc from the Sun, with a recessional velocity of 1,474 km/s.
The morphological classification of NGC 3003 is SBbc, indicating a barred spiral (SB) with moderate to loosely wound spiral arms (bc). The shape of the galaxy suggests it has been disturbed, possibly by NGC 3021. The two have a projected separation of about 200 kpc. NGC 3003 displays high luminosity in the hydrogen-alpha line, showing a bright nucleus and many prominent H II regions. 25 independent star forming regions have been identified, including the nuclear region. There is a bright and compact region to the southwest, which may be the remains of a dwarf galaxy or an intense H II region.
Supernova and luminous blue variable
One supernova and one luminous blue variable have been observed in NGC 3003:
SN 1961F (Type II, mag.
“NGC 3003” enters the record as galaxy. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what galaxy can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“NGC 3003” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, galaxy provides the most credible route into that argument.
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 Q1102367. The first chronological checks are 1785.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. 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 3003” 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.