NGC 2217 - Lenticular Galaxy in Canis Major

This is NGC 2217, a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation of Canis Major, The Great Dog. It has a set of spiral arms tightly wound with a bluish colour. They form an almost circular ring around the galaxy. This blueish colour indicates the presence of hot, luminous young stars born out of interstellar gas clouds.

 

Contrasting this is the central bulge and bar region. This area is golden/yellower in appearance as it contains older stars. I especially love the two thin tight arms around the central bar. It looks like an eye looking back.

 

A few quick facts:

Surface Brightness 23.69 mag/arcsec2

Major Angular Size 4.63 arcmin

Minor Angular Size 4.12 arcmin

Right ascension06h 21m 40.35s

Declination−27° 13′ 56.90″

Distance73 Mly 22.4 Mpc

Position Angle 113°

 

Instruments Used:

10 Inch RCOS fl 9.1

Astro Physics AP-900 Mount

SBIG STL 11000m

FLI Filter Wheel

Astrodon Lum, Red, Green, Blue Filters

 

Exposure Details:

Lum 35X600 Bin1

Red 16X450 Bin2

Green 16X450 Bin2

Blue 27X450 Bin2

 

Total Time: 13.20 hours

 

 

Done