Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3718  ·  NGC 3729
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NGC 3718, NGC 3729, and Hickson Group 56, Kevin Morefield
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NGC 3718, NGC 3729, and Hickson Group 56

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 3718, NGC 3729, and Hickson Group 56, Kevin Morefield
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 3718, NGC 3729, and Hickson Group 56

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Description

It's the twist that draws the eye. Presumably 3729, which lies only 150,000 light years distant, is distorting the larger 3718. Why does 3729 appear so undisturbed? Is it simply more massive?

Hickson group 57, the 5 small galaxies upper left, are 400 million years away, 8 times more distant from us than the nearer pair.

The very faint disk or arms just barely registered above the background noise for my location and system. I bumped up my normal 10 minute subs to 15 minutes to try and help that situation. Most of my initial color had gradients that obliterated the color in this extended area. So the color was re-shot till my gradients were under control.

Accounting only for the data I used, there is a total of 29.5 hours in this image. 49:19:27:23 LRGB.

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NGC 3718, NGC 3729, and Hickson Group 56, Kevin Morefield