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NGC 3628 - The Hamburger Galaxy in Leo
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Copyright 2008 Hap Griffin
NGC 3628 is one member of the so-called Leo Triplet of galaxies. It is a
spiral galaxy seen nearly edge-on and displays the obvious evidence of
gravitational interaction and disturbance by its two other Triplet neighbor
galaxies, M65 and M66. Orbital analyses of these galaxies indicate a close
passage by M66 some 800 million years ago, which left NGC 3628 with scattered
spiral arms and trails of gas, dust and stars extending well outside of its
original boundaries.
Date/Location:
May 24, 2008 Griffin/Hunter
Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Canon 40D Digital SLR (modified) through Celestron
C-11 SCT on AP-1200 mount
Focal Ratio: f/ 10
Guiding: Auto through Orion 10" Newtonian w/ SBIG ST-401
Conditions: Visually clear
Weather: 60 deg. F
Exposure: 170 minutes total @ ISO 800 (34 x 5 min exposures)
Filters: Baader UV/IR Block internal to camera
Processing: Focused and captured, RAW to TIFF conversion, frame calibrations,
frame stacking, Digital Development, scaling and JPEG conversion with ImagesPlus
V3. Finished in Photoshop CS2.