NGC 3718 – Arp 214

My image from this data won the Robotic Telescope award at APOY back in 2014. I decided it was again time to revisit this wonderful data set.

NGC 3718 also known as ARP 214 is located 52 million light years away in Ursa Major.  The galaxy is highly unusual. It is a highly disturbed galaxy that was initially thought to be a lenticular galaxy but is now considered to likely be a spiral galaxy due to the faint arm extensions that are apparent in the image. There are however certain characteristics that are like a polar ring galaxy.

If that wasn’t enough the twisted shape is certainly due to interactions with NGC 3729.

There are over 5000 galaxies in this image down to 24th magnitude. 

Processing: Mark Hanson

Enjoy,

Mark

Taken from DGRO Rancho Hidalgo Animas, New Mexico
14.5" RCOS F8,Apogee U16M High Cooling
Luminance 480, Red 260, Green 200, Blue 260