Cosmic contrasts: Arp 270, Holmberg 218 and friends

Observation Notes

Cosmic contrasts: when  object of different types come together in one image. Well, this area in the constellation Leo Minor features the so-called NGC 3396 group, which consists of an array of galaxies under different projection angles, and, most notably, perturbed and unperturbed. Arp 270, consisting of NGC 3395 and NGC 3396 (Zoom-in in revision B),  is an interacting pair of galaxies caught "in the act" of the collision triggering ample of recent star formation. Holmberg218, hoverer, is triplet of galaxies consisting on NGC 3424, NGC3430 (on the upper left side of the image - and in revision C) and, in the lower left, NGC 3413. Furthermore one finds IC2608 and, not belonging to the NGC3396 group, IC2604 as well as a number of smaller background galaxies.

Added: I added some Ha data to highlight the star formation in some of the galaxies, in particular Arp 270 and NGC 3413. subtle changes. (Revision D,E, and F)

Data were taken on 2025 April 27, 28, 29, and on May 1 and 2.

Added: Ha Data were taken on 2025 May 6, 8, and 9

Technical Details

View the full-resolution image together with complete acquisition and processing details on AstroBin.