Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3359
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The Little Cub and ngc 3359, Wim van Berlo
The Little Cub and ngc 3359
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The Little Cub and ngc 3359

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
The Little Cub and ngc 3359, Wim van Berlo
The Little Cub and ngc 3359
Powered byPixInsight

The Little Cub and ngc 3359

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Description

The Little Cub and spiral galaxy ngc 3359 are located in the constellation Great Bear (hence the name "Little Cub") at a distance of approximately 50 - 60 Million Light years.
The Little Cub is a "Blue Compact Galaxy" or an "extremely metal-poor star forming galaxy". It has a very low oxygen content, ant its stars contain mostly only Hydrogen and Helium. This type of galaxy therefore resembles galaxies that formed when the universe was still young.
The Little Cub is gravitationally bound to Milky Way size ngc 3359, and is actually being ripped apart by it. Scientists have found a stream of molecular Hydrogen which stretches from Little Cub towards ngc 3359.
Little Cub has a brightness of approximately magnitude 19.5 - 20. For comparison, the red star just below the dwarf galaxy is of magnitude 22, very close to what I can capture with my telescope and camera from my backyard.

This image is very much a work in progress. Atm, I am collecting more Ha, and when the moon is out of the way, I will also try to collect more Luminance.

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The Little Cub and ngc 3359, Wim van Berlo