NGC 3137 With Interacting Galaxies

[Russ.Carpenter]

NGC 3137 With Interacting Galaxies

This image is part of my on-going investigation of peculiar galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. I believe this is the first time NGC 3137 has been imaged and published by an amateur.

This galaxy is a member of the NGC 3175 group, which is similar to our own local group. NGC 3137 and NGC 3175 are large spiral galaxies, surrounded by many smaller spiral and satellite galaxies. In this image you can see two tiny galaxies that could be interacting companions. LEDA 734119 is immediately above NGC 3137, while 2MASX J10093951-2901122 is farther out and to the right.

Although the apparent size of NGC 3137 is fairly large (6.5 arc minutes), I had to work hard to resolve the galaxy’s interior details.

NGC 3177 meets the definition of a peculiar galaxy in The Catalog of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations, by Halton Arp and Barry Madore. It falls under Category 1—galaxies with interacting companions.

Tech Notes for ASA 500/3.6:
ASA Newtonian, 500 mm aperture, 1900mm focal length, F3.6
FLI Proline 16803, 9 mm pixel, 4096 X 4096
ASA DDM85 equatorial mount
Processing with PixInsight, StarTools, and Affinity Photo

[emarko]

Amazing ..... I love the colours ....

[RICH-DSO]

serious equipment! great details