{{Short description|Galaxy in the constellation Lupus}} {{Infobox galaxy | name = [[Index Catalogue|IC]] 4444 | image = IC 4444 2MASS.jpg | caption = IC 4441 imaged in infrared by [[2MASS]] | epoch = [[J2000]] | type = (R')SA:(s)bc <ref name="ned">{{cite web | title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | work=Results for IC 4441 | url=http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nph-objsearch?objname=IC+4441 | access-date=2 February 2025 }}</ref> | ra = {{RA|14|31|38.666}}<ref name="ned" /> | dec = {{DEC|-43|25|06.05}}<ref name="ned" /> | dist_ly = [[1 E22 m|57.8]] ± 19.7 [[light-year|Mly]] (17.7 ± 6.0 [[parsec|Mpc]])<ref name="ned" /> | z = 0.006535 ± 0.000018 <ref name="ned" /> | h_radial_v = 1,959 ± 5 km/[[second|s]]<ref name="ned" /> | appmag_v = 11.4<ref>{{cite web |title=Revised NGC Data for IC 4441 |url=https://spider.seds.org/ngc/revngcic.cgi?IC+4441 |website=spider.seds.org |access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref> | size_v = 1.7{{prime}} × 1.4{{prime}}<ref name="ned" /> | size = ~{{convert|12.4|kpc|ly|abbr=on|lk=on|order=flip}} (estimated){{r|ned}} | constellation name = [[Lupus (constellation)|Lupus]] | notes = | names = IC 4444, ESO 272- G 014, AM 1428-431, [[Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies|MCG]] -07-30-002, [[IRAS]] 14284-4311, [[Principal Galaxies Catalogue|PGC]] 51905 }}
'''IC 4444''' is a [[spiral galaxy]] in the constellation [[Lupus (constellation)|Lupus]]. The galaxy lies about 60 million [[light years]] away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that IC 4444 is approximately 40,000 light years across.<ref name="ned" /> It was discovered by [[Lewis Swift]] on 28 March 1897 and listed as IC 4441, however there is no object in the coordinates mentioned by Swift, and thus IC 4441 has been identified as the same object as nearby IC 4444, which was discovered by [[DeLisle Stewart]] in 1899.<ref name="Seligman">{{cite web |last1=Seligman |first1=Courtney |title=IC 4441 (probably = IC 4444 = PGC 51905) |url=https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ic44.htm#ic4441 |website=Celestial Atlas |access-date=19 November 2018}}</ref>
IC 4444 has a well-defined bar embedded in a small and faint [[galactic bulge]]. There may be a complete inner ring. The spiral pattern is asymmetric, with at least three [[spiral arm]]s, which emerge from the ends of the bar, two arms from the northwest end and one from the southeast. The southeast arms can be traced for a quarter of a revolution before fading. From the northwest end one arm is short and wraps tightly and features many [[HII region|star formation knots]] and the other is more loose and can be traced for a half revolution before fading. It features a region of [[starburst region|intense star formation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eskridge |first1=Paul B. |last2=Frogel |first2=Jay A. |last3=Pogge |first3=Richard W. |last4=Quillen |first4=Alice C. |last5=Berlind |first5=Andreas A. |last6=Davies |first6=Roger L. |last7=DePoy |first7=D. L. |last8=Gilbert |first8=Karoline M. |last9=Houdashelt |first9=Mark L. |last10=Kuchinski |first10=Leslie E. |last11=Ramirez |first11=Solange V. |last12=Sellgren |first12=K. |last13=Stutz |first13=Amelia |last14=Terndrup |first14=Donald M. |last15=Tiede |first15=Glenn P. |title=Near-Infrared and Optical Morphology of Spiral Galaxies |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |date=November 2002 |volume=143 |issue=1 |pages=73–111 |doi=10.1086/342340|arxiv=astro-ph/0206320 |bibcode=2002ApJS..143...73E }}</ref> The [[star formation]] rate of the galaxy is estimated to be about 5.9 {{solar mass}} per year.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parkash |first1=Vaishali |last2=Brown |first2=Michael J. I. |last3=Jarrett |first3=T. H. |last4=Bonne |first4=Nicolas J. |title=Relationships between Hi Gas Mass, Stellar Mass, and the Star Formation Rate of HICAT+WISE (H i-WISE) Galaxies |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |date=1 September 2018 |volume=864 |issue=1 |pages=40 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/aad3b9 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018ApJ...864...40P |url=https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/nph-Cat/txt?J/ApJ/864/40/table8.dat.gz|arxiv=1807.06246 }}</ref>
One [[supernova]] has been observed in IC 4444, SN 2009G. It was discovered on 5 January 2009 at an apparent magnitude of 16.5 by the CHASE project using the 0.41-m 'PROMPT 4' telescope located at [[Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pignata |first1=G. |last2=Maza |first2=J. |last3=Hamuy |first3=M. |last4=Antezana |first4=R. |last5=Gonzalez |first5=L. |last6=Gonzalez |first6=P. |last7=Lopez |first7=P. |last8=Silva |first8=S. |last9=Folatelli |first9=G. |last10=Iturra |first10=D. |last11=Cartier |first11=R. |last12=Forster |first12=F. |last13=Marchi |first13=S. |last14=Conuel |first14=B. |last15=Reichart |first15=D. |last16=Ivarsen |first16=K. |last17=Crain |first17=A. |last18=Foster |first18=D. |last19=Nysewander |first19=M. |last20=Lacluyze |first20=A. |title=Supernova 2009G in IC 4441 |journal=Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams |date=1 January 2009 |issue=1655 |pages=1 |bibcode=2009CBET.1655....1P |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/001600/CBET001655.txt}}</ref> It was identified spectographically as a [[Type II supernova#Light_curves_for_Type_II-L_and_Type_II-P_supernovae|type II-P supernova]] about three months past explosion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stritzinger |first1=M. |last2=Forster |first2=F. |last3=Folatelli |first3=G. |last4=Pignata |first4=G. |last5=Hamuy |first5=M. |title=Supernova 2009G in IC 4444. |journal=Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams |date=1 January 2009 |issue=1664 |pages=1 |bibcode=2009CBET.1664....1S |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/001600/CBET001664.txt}}</ref>
IC 4444 forms a pair with ESO 272-012 and lies in a galaxy cloud which also includes the galaxies [[IC 4362]], [[IC 4386]], [[IC 4402]], and [[NGC 5483]].<ref name="Makarov">{{cite journal|last1=Makarov|first1=Dmitry|last2=Karachentsev|first2=Igor|title=Galaxy groups and clouds in the local (z~ 0.01) Universe|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|date=21 April 2011|volume=412|issue=4|pages=2498–2520|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.18071.x|doi-access=free |url=http://www.sao.ru/hq/dim/groups/galaxies.dat|bibcode=2011MNRAS.412.2498M|arxiv=1011.6277|s2cid=119194025|access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{wikiSky}}
{{Lupus (constellation)}}
[[Category:Unbarred spiral galaxies]] [[Category:Ring galaxies]] [[Category:Lupus (constellation)]] [[Category:IC objects|4444]] [[Category:MCG objects|-07-30-002]] [[Category:Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects|51905]] [[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1897]] [[Category:Discoveries by Lewis Swift]] [[Category:Discoveries by DeLisle Stewart]]