NGC 4324
NGC 4324 is a lenticular galaxy located about 85 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on March 4, 1862. NGC 4324 has a stellar mass of 5.62 × 1010 M☉, and a baryonic mass of 5.88 × 1010 M☉. The galaxy's total mass is around 5.25 × 1011 M☉. NGC 4324 is notable for having a ring of star formation surrounding its nucleus. It was considered a member of the Virgo II Groups until 1999, when its distance was recalculated and it was placed in the Virgo W Group. Physical characteristics First discovered in 1957 by Russian astronomer Kirill Ogorodnikov and described by Ogorodnikov as "a system of planet-like concentrations similar to beads" and as "equally-spaced bead-like concentrations of equal size and brightness similar to the annular nebula of Kant-Lapace nebular hypothesis.", NGC 4324 features an inner ring that surrounds the nucleus. The ring appears complete but broken on opposite sides of its diameter which led to Burstein et al. suggesting that the ring is not a ring at all but instead tightly wound spiral arms and that NGC 4324 is a misclassified spiral or lenticular galaxy. Despite this, the ring is