Spiral galaxy · Leo Minor
NGC 3344 Sliced Onion Galaxy
mag 10.06.7′ across
About
NGC 3344, the Sliced Onion Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy of magnitude 10.0 in Leo Minor, about 6.7′ across.
How to find it
- NGC 3344 is in the constellation Leo Minor.
- Best evenings: around mid-April it is highest at about 9 pm (10 pm in summer time); a month earlier, two hours later.
- Where on Earth: it is seen well, at least 10° up, from north of 55° S.
When it rises and sets tonight, how high it climbs and how much the Moon gets in the way are worked out in your browser for your place.
What you will see
- EyesNot visible to the naked eye.
- Binoculars (10×50)Too faint for binoculars.
- Telescope (6–8 inch)A faint oval glow with a brighter middle — no spiral arms without a camera.
For a dark country sky with no Moon. From a city, faint galaxies and nebulae can disappear completely.
Facts
| Designations | NGC 3344, PGC 31968, UGC 5840 |
|---|---|
| Type | Spiral galaxy (Sbc) |
| Magnitude | 10.0The smaller the number, the brighter. |
| Apparent size | 6.7′ × 6.4′the full Moon is 31′ across |
| Surface brightness | 23.3 mag/arcsec²Average over its disc, in the blue band: the lower the number, the easier it is to see. |
| Constellation | Leo Minor |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 10h 43m 31.2s |
| Declination (J2000) | +24° 55′ 20″ |
Sources and credits
Catalog data: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga, CC BY-SA 4.0, and d3-celestial by Olaf Frohn, BSD 3-Clause. All data sources →