Sliced Onion Galaxy (NGC 3344) in Leo Minor
NGC 3344 is the largest and brightest galaxy in the Little Lion at a distance of 20 million light-years. It is a stunning open system seen only 23° from face-on, member of the Leo Spur of galaxies. NGC 3344 is an SABbc-type galaxy, classified between barred (SB) and unbarred (SA) with a very bright nucleus (bc). The galaxy’s disk is scatterd by a remarkable number of HII regions.
In October 2012, a supernova was discovered in the galaxy’s disk, nearly south of the center, which is known as SN 2012fh.
An image taken by Capella Observatory (www.capella-observatory.com) before the appearance of SN 2012fh can be found here.
Details
Telescope:
RCOS 20″ f/8.5
Mount:
Paramount ME
Camera:
Apogee U16M
Filters:
Astrodon Gen2
Exposure:
LRGB 800:300:300:320 min.
Location:
Sierra Remote, California
Author:
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
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Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.
“Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”.
Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion.