Galaxy NGC 3344
History
The galaxy NGC 3344 was discovered by William Herschel on 6 April 1785 and listed as «bright nebula» with the designation I 81. He described it as follows: «Considerably bright, considerably large, milky, just preceding 2 stars.» [463]
Physical Properties
NGC 3344 is a weakly barred spiral galaxy, seen face-on at a distance of approximately 20 million light-years and half the size of the Milky Way. The spiral arms of a galaxy are the birthplace of new stars, whose high temperatures make them shine blue. Some of NGC 3344's outer stars are moving in a strange way. Often, the high concentration of stars in the centre of a galaxy can affect the movements of the outer stars, but this does not seem to be the case here. It is suspected that these weirdly behaving outer stars may actually have been stolen from another galaxy, after a close encounter that took place long ago. [693]
| Designation | NGC 3344 |
| Type | Gx (SBbc) |
| Right Ascension (J2000.0) | 10h 43m 30.9s |
| Declination (J2000.0) | +24° 55' 22" |
| Diameter | 7.1 × 6.5 arcmin |
| Photographic (blue) magnitude | 10.5 mag |
| Visual magnitude | 9.9 mag |
| Surface brightness | 13.9 mag·arcmin-2 |
| Position Angle | 18° |
| Redshift (z) | 0.001935 |
| Distance derived from z | 8.17 Mpc |
| Metric Distance | 6.100 Mpc |
| Dreyer Description | cB, L, gbM, * inv, 2 st f |
| Identification, Remarks | WH I 81; h 739; GC 2178; UGC 5840; MCG 4-25-46; CGCG 124-60; KARA 435; WAS 14; IRAS 10407+2511 |
Finder Chart
The galaxy NGC 3344 is located in the constellation Leo Minor. It is on 28 February in opposition to the Sun. From Switzerland it can best be seen in the months October to June.
