H-NGC3607
Galaxy in Leo
About
A lenticular galaxy in Leo about 73 million light-years away, the centre of the Leo II group. It has a dusty outer disk and a second disk tilted across it, and hot X-ray gas surrounds it. William Herschel found it in 1784.
Imaging tips
- About 5′ across, so it is too small to frame: use a long focal length and a fine pixel scale.
- Its neighbour NGC 3608 lies close by; one imager at f/10 could not fit it without rotating the camera, and said an f/8 version of the scope would have given the needed field.
- One film image at 8-inch f/6 showed NGC 3607, NGC 3608, NGC 3605 and NGC 3599 together.
- Surface brightness is 22.0 mag/arcsec². Best in February and March, peaking near 58° from 50°N.
Facts
- Size
- 5′ × 5′
- Magnitude
- 9.9
- Coordinates
- RA 11h 16.9m, Dec +18° 3′
- Framing, APS-C
- longer than 4000 mm
- Framing, full frame
- longer than 4000 mm
- Best months
- Feb, Mar
- Peak altitude
- 58° from 50°N, 73° from 35°N