Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3628
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NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy, Bob Stewart
NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy
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NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy

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NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy, Bob Stewart
NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy

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Description

A spiral galaxy seen edge-on that is about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo.  NGC 3628 is known for its broad central dark band of dust and somewhat irregular shape.  Although this band of dust seems to be passing right through the center of the galaxy, this is an optical illusion brought on by viewing the galaxy edge-on.  In reality, the dust band encircles the very outer edge of its spiral arms along its entire circumference.  NGC 3628’s distorted ends are due to strong gravitational interactions with two other nearby spiral galaxies: M65 and M66 (both out of the frame of this image).  These three galaxies together are known as the Leo Triplet.  The yellow/orange color in the galaxy’s center indicates that this region is dominated by smaller, cooler, older stars (like our Sun).  The blue hue in the outer edges indicates that larger, hotter, younger stars dominate in these regions of the galaxy.

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NGC 3628 - Hamburger Galaxy, Bob Stewart