NGC 6340 is an 11th magnitude, S0 lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco, which measures about 3.0’ x 2.9’. A 2009 paper proposed that the structure of this galaxy indicates the merger of two dissimilar galaxies about 12 billion years ago. [1]

This image was acquired with the C11 Edge HD and the 0.7x reducer at roughly 2000 mm focal length. Luminance subs were binned 2x2, giving an image scale of about 0.93” per pixel, and RGB subs were binned 3x3, providing 1.39” per pixel. During processing, all subs were drizzled back to the native resolution of about 0.46” per pixel. The image was framed to include IC 1251 (mag. 14.5), IC 1254 (mag. 14.1), and several interesting galaxies in the lower righthand corner: PGC 2748953 (mag. 16.4), PGC 2748918 (mag. 16.1), PGC 2749002 (mag. 16.2), and PGC 2748792 (mag. 17.2).

Due to its declination of about +72 degrees, NGC 6340 is best suited for imaging at northern latitudes. From my backyard site at +42 N latitude, I still struggled with capturing this field, as its generally low altitude caused bloating and chromatic aberrations on the brighter stars. Poor seeing on all nights did not help with star colors and shapes either. I therefore applied some cosmetic touch-ups with StarSpikes Pro, as the blemished stars otherwise distracted too much from the subject matter in the image. It’s debatable whether the square stars look any better after the shameless cover-up.

The irregular-looking galaxy at the left-center position is IC 1251, which measures about 1.2’ x 0.6’, and is apparently a Type Sc spiral rather than an irregular. IC 1254, a type Sb peculiar spiral, lies to its lower right and measures about 1.6’ x 0.7’. In his readings about this group of galaxies, Rick Johnson wondered if they had interacted in the past, given their similar redshifts. A link to his discussion is provided below. [2]

References

1. I. V. Chilingarian, A.P. Novikova, V. Cayatte, F. Combes, P. DiMatteo, and A. V. Zasov, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 504(2), September III 2009.

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2009/35/aa11684-09.pdf

[2]. R. Johnson, mantrapskies.com website, NGC 6340.

URL: https://images.mantrapskies.com/catalog/NGC/NGC6340-IC1251-IC1254/index.htm