Bubble Galaxy (NGC 3521)

NGC 3521
NGC 3521: Picture taken with FORS1 instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. © 2011 ESO [705]

History

The galaxy NGC 3521 was discovered by William Herschel on 22 February 1784. He listed it as I 13 and described it with: «Very bright, much elongated, mer. fairly much brighter in the middle, 7 or 8' long.» [463] On 13 April 1828 (sweep 144) John Herschel described listed this galaxy as h 818 and noted: «Very bright, large, much extended (position by diagonal = 140° ±) 4' long, 1' broad, very suddenly very much brighter in the middle. The nucleus is rather excentric, being rather towards the south preceding side.» [466]

On 29 March 1856 Lord Rosse's assistant R. J. Mitchell observed the galaxy using Lord Rosse's 72-inch reflector, the «Leviathan of Parsonstown» and compared the galacy with NGC 7331 He noted: «The nucleus projects into the space along south preceding edge; outside this dark space there is faint nebulosity, which I see joining the nebula at north. A faind star at the opposite extremity.» [486]

Physical Properties

Revised+Historic NGC/IC Version 22/9, © 2022 Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke [277]
Designation NGC 3521
Type Gx (SBbc)
Right Ascension (J2000.0) 11h 05m 48.8s
Declination (J2000.0) -00° 02' 13"
Diameter 11.2 × 5.4 arcmin
Photographic (blue) magnitude 9.8 mag
Visual magnitude 9.0 mag
Surface brightness 13.2 mag·arcmin-2
Position Angle 163°
Redshift (z) 0.002672
Distance derived from z 11.29 Mpc
Metric Distance 12.080 Mpc
Dreyer Description cB, cL, mE 140° ±, vsmbMN
Identification, Remarks WH I 13; h 818; GC 2301; UGC 6150; MCG 0-28-30; CGCG 10-74; KARA 461

Finder Chart

The galaxy NGC 3521 is located in the constellation Leo. On 5 March it is in opposition to the Sun and crosses the meridian at local midnight. It can best be observed from October to June.

Leo / NGC 3521
Finder Chart Bubble Galaxy (NGC 3521)
17:23 | 5°
22:57 | 43.2°
04:31 | 5°
Charts created using SkySafari 6 Pro and STScI Digitized Sky Survey. Limiting magnitudes: Constellation chart ~6.5 mag, DSS2 close-ups ~20 mag. Times are shown for timezone UTC. Date 2025-03-16 [149, 160]

Visual Observation

762 mm Aperture: The Bubble Galaxy NGC 3521 appears crescent-shaped, extending from a brighter nucleus. — 30" f/3.3 SlipStream Dobsonian, Hasliberg, 05. 03. 2025, SQM-L 21.62, Eduard von Bergen, Eduard von Bergen

Objects Within a Radius of 15°

References

  • [149] SkySafari 6 Pro, Simulation Curriculum; skysafariastronomy.com
  • [160] The STScI Digitized Sky Survey; archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form
  • [277] Historische Deep-Sky Kataloge; Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke; klima-luft.de/steinicke; 2021-02-17
  • [463] Catalogue of one thousand new nebulae and clusters of stars; William Herschel; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1 January 1786; DOI:10.1098/rstl.1786.0027
  • [466] Observations of nebulæ and clusters of stars, made at Slough, with a twenty-feet reflector, between the years 1825 and 1833; John Frederick William Herschel; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1 January 1833, Pages: 359-505; DOI:10.1098/rstl.1833.0021
  • [486] On the construction of specula of six-feet aperture; and a selection from the observations of nebulæ made with them; William Parsons; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 151, published 1 January 1861; DOI:10.1098/rstl.1861.0029
  • [705] A spiral galaxy in Leo; O. Maliy; eso.org/public/images/eso1129a; 2024-11-26