Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3349  ·  NGC 3356  ·  NGC 3362
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NGC 3356, Gary Imm
NGC 3356, Gary Imm

NGC 3356

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NGC 3356, Gary Imm
NGC 3356, Gary Imm

NGC 3356

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Description

This lovely tornado-shaped Astrobin Debut Object is located 200 million light years away in the constellation of Leo at a declination of +7 degrees.  It is a magnitude 13 galaxy which spans 3 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a large diameter of 180,000 light years.

The core is offset to the south of this galaxy.   It is incredible to study the large width of the upper disk of this galaxy as compared to the small lower half.

The disk is disturbed but the cause of the disturbance is not clear.  The tiny nearby galaxies above and below are much further away.  Likewise, the pair of interacting galaxies to the right (including NGC 3349) are further away, as is the face-on galaxy in the lower left corner, NGC 3362. 

Perhaps the disturbance culprit of NGC 3356 has already been partially absorbed into its disturbed disk.  The two small bright spots in the outer disk - a blue one above the core and a yellow one below - look suspicious to me.  They are not round stars but appear to be bright star clouds.  These clouds are typically blue in color, so the yellow spot could be the core of a smaller galaxy being absorbed by NGC 3356.

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