NGC 3628 From CDK 1000

NGC 3628 is classed as an unbarred spiral galaxy 35 million light years away in Leo. Along with M 65 and M66 it is part of what is referred to as the Leo triplet. The galaxy features a tidal tail (part of which is shown here) that stretches 300,000 light years). While classified as unbarred, there is some speculation that it is actually a barred galaxy due to the X shaped bulge in the central portion. Bar formation is often triggered by interaction with other galaxies, and 3628 is interacting with the other two galaxies in the triplet.

The galaxy features numerous dust lanes and several obvious regions of active star formation. There are many distant background galaxies throughout the image. Imaged in LRGB on our Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.

Image Processing: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

 Enjoy,

 Mark & Mike