Galaxy NGC3344

April 2022

Imaging: TS80 apo, ZWO ASI533 (100 gain, -10C), Neodymium
Subs: 479x60s (8h), darks, flats, and darkflats
Software: NINA, Phd2, PixInsight

(Additional notes below)

Gallery

Notes

NGC 3344 is a barred spiral galaxy located 22.5 million light years away in the constellation Leo Minor. This is what our Milky Way might look like to an alien in a different galaxy.

This galaxy is one of the few that I can capture at my telescope's current location in the backyard. My equipment is not suited for galaxies: they are SO tiny that you need a long focal length telescope. And I have been sitting on the $$$ for such a scope for months now but you simply can't buy it with the on-going supply chain problems. So this is actually a tight crop of a much larger image, which acts like a "zoom" but also greatly reduces the resolution. However, one can still begin to see the spirals. If this was our Milky Way, we would be located about 1/3 of the way in on one of those spirals.