Thursday, October 5, 2023

Galaxy NGC 3718 --- and friends!

Here is my latest result from the TOA scope and from my backyard in New Mexico, USA - this is two nights of data from back in May. This was my FIRST time to try this interesting target!
Here (below) are some notes on it. I have more info/capture details at my site: http://jeffjastro.com/dso/NGC3718_24May23.htm
Galaxy NGC 3718 --- and friends! 52 million light years distant...and that small group of galaxies next to it is 400 million light years away 😮 😊 🤩

From wiki:
NGC 3718, also called Arp 214, is a galaxy located approximately 52 million light years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.[4][2][5] It is either a lenticular or spiral galaxy. NGC 3729 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of circa 65 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 3729 is about 60,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 12, 1789.
There are several theories and model results of the possibility of past gravitational intereaction between NGC 3718 and NGC 3729, one paper is here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.03691
#deepsky #galaxies #ccd