3C 438 is a Seyfert galaxy and Fanaroff and Riley class II radio galaxy[1][2] located in the constellation Cygnus. The radio galaxy has two lobes and there is a radio jet leading to the south lobe, which also has a prominent double hot spot.[3] There is age variation across the lobes.[4]
| 3C 438 | |
|---|---|
 3C 438 in radiowaves by the Very Large Array | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Right ascension | 21h 55m 52.324s[1] |
| Declination | +38° 00′ 28.51″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.290[2] |
| Distance | 1,113 megaparsecs (3,630 Mly) h−1 0.73[2] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 19.20[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SyG, AGN, X, G, QSO[1] G, FR II, Sy[2] |
| Other designations | |
| LEDA 2817736, 3C 438, 4C 37.63 | |
3C 438 is a member of a galaxy cluster and three galaxies are located close to it, the closest one being 4 arcseconds to the northeast.[5] The galaxy cluster has been found when observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory to have hot intergalactic gas, with a temperature of about 11 KeV, which when discovered in 2007 was the highest ever found, slightly hotter than the Bullet Cluster.[6] The high temperature is the result of the merger of two galaxy clusters, as the relative movement of one subcluster has created a bow shock in the hot gas.[7]