NGC 3344
Galaxy in the constellation Leo Minor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NGC 3344 is a relatively isolated[7] barred spiral galaxy around half the size of the Milky Way located 22.5[4] million light years away in the constellation Leo Minor.[8] It was discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on 6 April 1785.[9]
| NGC 3344 | |
|---|---|
NGC 3344 imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope[1] | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Leo Minor |
| Right ascension | 10h 43m 31.150s[2] |
| Declination | +24° 55′ 19.99″[2] |
| Redshift | 0.001935 ± 0.000003[3] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 585[4] km/s |
| Distance | 22.5 Mly (6.90 Mpc)[4] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.5[5] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | (R)SAB(r)bc[6] |
| Size | ~84,800 ly (26.01 kpc) (estimated)[5] |
| Apparent size (V) | 7.1′ × 6.5′[5] |
| Other designations | |
| IRAS 10407+2511, UGC 5840, MCG +04-25-046, PGC 31968, CGCG 124-060[5] | |
NGC 3344 belongs to the group known as the Leo spur, which is a branch of the Virgo Supercluster.[10] NGC 3344 has the morphological classification (R)SAB(r)bc,[6] which indicates it is a weakly barred spiral galaxy that exhibits rings and moderate to loosely wound spiral arms.[11] There is both an inner and outer ring, with the prominent arms radiating outward from the inner ring and the slightly elliptical bar being situated inside. At the center of the bar is an HII nucleus with an angular diameter of about 3″.[7]
Supernova
One supernova has been observed in NGC 3344: SN 2012fh (Type Ib/Ic, mag. 15.1) was discovered by Masaki Tsuboi on 18 October 2012.[12][13][14]
