NGC 3621 - Spiral Galaxy in the constellation Hydra

NGC 3621 is a large spiral galaxy with a bright inner region surrounded by much fainter and wide spread spiral arms. In the central region there are countless reddish nebulous areas and fine dark dust structures. In the outer spiral arms there are knot-like thickenings formed by large and bright star clusters.

larger image
Date:20.-23.05.2023
Optics: Planewave CDK 12.5 with Televue 0.8x reducer
Aperture: 318 mm
Focal Length: 2030 mm
Camera: Alccd 12
Exposure: 57 x 600 s
Location: Chamaeleon Observatory, Onjala Lodge, Namibia
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop
Diameter:95,000 light years
Distance:21 million light years
annotated image

image field in the sky