A Springtime Spiral in Leo Minor

NGC3344

NGC 3344, a Spiral Galaxy in Leo Minor
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró

Spiral Galaxy NGC 3344 in Leo Minor

Faint but star-like core with a magnitude of about 13.5. The galaxy itself is faint, does not show any structures. This may be because of the terrible atmospheric conditions, as on astrophotographs it shows arms that seem quite an easy catch. These arms can only be suspected because of the slightly elongated ellipse shape, as the galaxy is in fact almost perfectly face-on – this means that the ellipse shape is formed because of the two arms in the N-S directions. An interesting feature is a bright foreground star.

Right Ascension 10h 44m; Declination 24° 50′
Constellation: Leo Minor
Date/ Time 2009.02.19 23:30 UT
Telescope: 12″ f/5 Newtonian
FOV 22′ Magnification 167x
Seeing: 3/5; Transparency:2/5

2 thoughts on “A Springtime Spiral in Leo Minor”

  1. Ferenc,
    I like sketches like it. Use the power of 12″ and prepare more, please. 🙂

    Marek

  2. Ferenc,

    I agree with Marek. It is a very nice sketch, and I would like to see more as well.

    Frank 🙂

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