NGC 3521 - Spiral Galaxy

Leo

(ra: 11:05.8/ dec -00:02)

February 6th 2009, taken from Merlo San Luis Province

DATA

TYPE: Spiral Galaxy

APPARENT MAGNITUDE: 8.9

APPARENT DIMENSION: 11.2 X 5.4 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 35 Million lights years

OBJECT DESCRIPTION

NGC 3521 is located in the celestial equator and is a fair object to image for both hemispheres. It has a similar appearance as M63. NGC 3521 shows multiple spiral arms structure and presents dust o gaseous prominences above and below the galactic plane. There are four distant galaxies from magnitude 16.7 to 18.7 at the right. There is also an irregular shape at the left which I was not able to identify.

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: Celestron SCT - C8 riding in a LXD 75 Mount

SKY CONDITIONS: Seeing regular, transparency good. Moon in Gemini at more than half phase.

CAMERA: Starlight Xpress SXVF H9 roughly @f 6.3

FILTERS: Astronomik Type II, Atik Filter Wheel

IMAGE ACQUISITION: AstroArt 3.0, CCD Control Interface 3.72

EXPOSURES: LRGB (75,20,20,20)

PROCESSED: Calibrated (no darks, no flats, no offsets) in ImagesPlus. Digital Development in ImagesPlus,  CCD Sharp, Photoshop CS