NGC 3513
R.A.: 11 03 46 Dec.: -23 14 43.7
Size: 2.9' x 2.4', Magnitude: 12.0
Recently I have been tasked with authoring my OOTWs on Sundays while traveling to astronomical events! This time I will be on the road to GSSP… last time was the total eclipse in Texas and the time before that it was the annular eclipse in Utah! Since I am leaving today I’ll be posting this 2 days early!
NGCs 3511 and 3513 are a little low right now but are still a great pair in the same field of view since they are only about 11 arcminutes apart. Each is about 40 million light-years distant and are gravitational bound. Both objects were discovered by Herschel on the same sweep in December, 1786.
NGC 3511 is a spiral galaxy, about 3 times longer than it is wide, and NGC 3513 is a nearly round barred spiral, which is about half the size of its big brother.
In the eyepiece of my 25” f/5 Obsession they were an easy target, but being low in the sky for me I saw little detail in either, and the bar in NGC 3513 was not apparent on that particular night. Still, I enjoy two objects for the price of one, and these are a fine pair. Here is a nice photo from Walter A Keller…
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