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.
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RCOS 20″ f/8.5
Paramount ME
Apogee U16M
Astrodon Gen2
LRGB 800:300:300:320 min.
Sierra Remote, California
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
