NGC 6261

NGC 6261 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Hercules. It is located 470 million light-years away from the Solar System and has an approximate diameter of 200,000 light-years.

NGC 6261 was discovered on July 13, 1880, by French astronomer Edouard Stephan. The galaxy is described as LINER according to SIMBAD database and presents emission spectrum in its nucleus which is categorized by broad lines of weak ionized atoms.

Supernovae
Two supernovae have been discovered in NGC 6261 so far: SN 2007hu and SN 2008dt.

SN 2007hu
SN 2007hu was discovered on September 9, 2007, by astronomers Ernesto Guido, A. Sehgal and Tim Puckett. It had a magnitude of 17.7 and was located 1".3 west and 1".4 north of the nucleus. The supernova was Type la.

SN 2008dt
SN 2008dt was discovered on 30 June, 2008, by astronomers D. Madison, W. Li and A.V. Filippenko at the University of California, Berkeley. It had a magnitude of 17.2 and was located 1".0 east and 5.5" south of the nucleus. The supernova was Type la.