This
Astrobin Debut Object, also known as NGC 3712, is an almost edge-on barred spiral galaxy located 70 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major at a declination of +29 degrees. By my calculation, this galaxy is about 10 degrees from edge-on. In his
Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the odd category of Galaxies with Material Ejected from Nuclei.
This magnitude 15 galaxy spans 2 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of only 45,000 light years. My favorite aspect of this image is the extended star streams. I especially like the area below the galaxy, where the star stream curls for 180 degrees. The star streams appears to be extending out of plane somewhat, similar to a polar ring galaxy.
My first thought was that the disk was being disturbed by a companion or nearby galaxy. The small galaxies just below and right of this object are too distant, but the galaxy to the left (and slightly below) could be the culprit. Data shows it to be about the same distance away. However, this smaller galaxy (LEDA 1838290) is not disturbed so I think it is unlikely to be the reason for the disturbance of Arp 203.
Faint rays of light are seen rising from the bottom center edge of the image, which are from a bright magnitude 6.7 star (HD 100041) just out of frame below.
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