Bean galaxy

{{Short description|Massive elliptical radio galaxy in the constellation Draco}}

{{Infobox galaxy|name=Bean Galaxy|image=BeanGalaxyDESI.png|caption=DESI Legacy Surveys DR9 photo of the Bean Galaxy.|epoch=J2000|constellation name=[[Draco (constellation)|Draco]]|ra=17h 15m 30.04s|dec=+64° 39' 51.61"|z=0.07898|h_radial_v=22745|dist_ly=1.089 [[light year|bly]] (334 [[parsec|mpc]])|group_cluster=SDSS-C4 3089|mag_k=11.568|type=[[Type-cD galaxy|cD]]|mass={{val|1.349|e=12}}|size=319,000 [[light year|ly]] (97,800 [[parsec|pc]])|names=7C 1715+6442, LEDA 59953, PGC 59953, WN B1715+6442}}The '''Bean Galaxy''', also known as '''7C 1715+6442''' is a [[Type-cD galaxy|supergiant elliptical galaxy]], [[active galaxy]], [[radio galaxy]], and [[brightest cluster galaxy]] in the [[constellation]] of [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]].<ref name="SIMBAD">{{cite web |title=SIMBAD Results for Bean Galaxy |url=https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=Bean+Galaxy&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id |website=SIMBAD |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref><ref name="NED">{{cite web |title=NED Results for Bean Galaxy |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/byname?objname=LEDA+59953&hconst=67.8&omegam=0.308&omegav=0.692&wmap=4&corr_z=1 |website=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref><ref name="Zhao2015">{{cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Dongyao |title=The link between morphology and structure of brightest cluster galaxies: automatic identification of cDs |journal= Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=2015 |volume=448 |issue=3 |page=2530 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stv190 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1501.06352 |bibcode=2015MNRAS.448.2530Z }}</ref> The galaxy is 1.09 billion [[light years]] (or 334,000,000 [[parsecs]]) away at a spectroscopic [[redshift]] of z = 0.07898.<ref name="SIMBAD" /><ref name="NED" /> The galaxy has an apparent K magnitude of 11.568.<ref name="SIMBAD" /> The Bean Galaxy is the brightest cluster galaxy of SDSS-C4 3089, and this [[galaxy cluster]] contains a total of 17 galaxies.<ref name="SIMBAD2">{{cite web |title=SIMBAD Results for SDSS-C4 3089 |url=https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%405198673&Name=SDSS-C4%203089&submit=submit |website=SIMBAD |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref> The galaxy was discovered in 1980 by the [[Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope|Westerbork Radio Telescope]] in the 14th list of radio sources.<ref name="Harris1980">{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=D. E. |title=Westerbork synthesis observations of 8 clusters of galaxies which contain tailed radio galaxies. |journal= Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series|date=1980 |volume=39 |page=215 |bibcode=1980A&AS...39..215H |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1980A%26AS...39..215H/abstract |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref>

== Characteristics == The Bean Galaxy is a massive, large supergiant elliptical galaxy in the galaxy cluster, SDSS-C4 3089.<ref name="SIMBAD" /><ref name="NED" /> The galaxy has a total diameter of 319,000 light years (or 97,800 parsecs) across, or roughly three times larger than the [[Milky Way]].<ref name="NED" /> The size was estimated using the 2MASS K-band total mag angular diameter of approximately one [[arcmin]] (or 60.4 arcsecs), and a redshift-independent distance of 1.09 billion light years (or 334,000,000 parsecs) away.<ref name="NED" />

The Bean Galaxy is thought to be exceptionally massive, having a stellar mass of 1.35 trillion {{solar mass}} (or 1012.13).<ref name="Mamon2020">{{cite journal |last1=Mamon |first1=Gary |title=The frequency of very young galaxies in the local Universe - II. The view from SDSS spectra |journal= Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=2020 |volume=492 |issue=2 |page=1791 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stz3556 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1912.06522 |bibcode=2020MNRAS.492.1791M }}</ref> The stellar population of the galaxy is predicted to be old, with an average age of 6.75 billion years old (or 109.829).<ref name="Mattolini2025">{{cite journal |last1=Mattolini |first1=D. |title=Re-assessing the stellar population scaling relations of the galaxies in the Local Universe |journal= Astronomy & Astrophysics|date=2025 |volume=703 |pages=A5 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202554972 |arxiv=2509.04570 |bibcode=2025A&A...703A...5M |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025A%26A...703A...5M/abstract |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref> The stellar population mainly consists of metal-poor [[red giant branch]], and [[asymptotic giant branch]] stars.<ref name="Mattolini2025" /> The galaxy has a star-formation rate of 0.235 {{solar mass}} per year, typical for gas-poor elliptical galaxies.<ref name="Demers2019">{{cite journal |last1=Demers |first1=Melanie |title=Smaller stellar disc scale lengths in rich environments |journal= Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=2019 |volume=489 |issue=2 |page=2216 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stz2305 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1908.06810 |bibcode=2019MNRAS.489.2216D }}</ref>

The galactic center of the Bean Galaxy has an [[active galactic nucleus]] (also referred to as an AGN), which is small region in the galactic center of a galaxy that is very luminous and energetic.<ref name="NED" /> The active galactic nucleus is powered by a large [[supermassive black hole]] (also known as an SMBH) with a mass of 2.207 billion {{solar mass}} estimated using velocity dispersion.<ref name="Oei2023">{{cite journal |last1=Oei |first1=Martijn |title=Measuring the giant radio galaxy length distribution with the LoTSS |journal= Astronomy & Astrophysics|date=2023 |volume=672 |pages=A163 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202243572 |arxiv=2210.10234 |bibcode=2023A&A...672A.163O |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023A%26A...672A.163O/abstrac |access-date=2026-01-10}}</ref>

The Bean Galaxy is classified as a giant radio galaxy (also called as an GRG), i. e. a [[radio galaxy]] with radio lobes larger than 2.2 million light years (or 700,000 parsecs) across.<ref name="Oei2023" /> It was first discovered in 1980 that the Bean Galaxy was a radio galaxy.<ref name="Harris1980" /> The radio emissions stretch roughly 3 million light years (or 926,000 parsecs) across, based on an angular diameter of 10 arcmin.<ref name="Oei2023" /> These radio lobes are created by the galaxy's massive central black hole.<ref name="Oei2023" /> This giant radio galaxy is unusual because it is located in a galaxy cluster, which is rare for giant radio galaxies,<ref name="Oei2023" /> and it is similar to other radio galaxies such as Inkathazo in both extent and location.<ref name="Charlton2025">{{cite journal |last1=Charlton |first1=K. K. L. |title=A spatially resolved spectral analysis of giant radio galaxies with MeerKAT |journal= Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=2025 |volume=537 |issue=1 |page=272 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stae2543 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2411.06813 |bibcode=2025MNRAS.537..272C }}</ref>

== X-ray source == One [[Astrophysical X-ray source|X-ray source]] has been discovered in the Bean Galaxy: '''CXOX J171530.1+643950''', which is classified as a radio X-ray source, and was discovered in 2024 in a survey of 3.1 million X-ray sources.<ref name="Flesch2024">{{cite journal |last1=Flesch |first1=Eric |title=The Millions of Optical-Radio/X-ray Associations (MORX) Catalogue, v2 |journal= The Open Journal of Astrophysics|date=2024 |volume=7 |page=6 |doi=10.21105/astro.2308.01507 |doi-access=free|arxiv=2308.01507 |bibcode=2024OJAp....7E...6F }}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

[[Category:Elliptical galaxies]] [[Category:Active galaxies]] [[Category:Radio galaxies]] [[Category:LEDA objects|59953]] [[Category:Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects|59953]]