| Intermediate
Spiral Galaxy
aka PGC 33385, MCG -4-26-20, ESO 502 13 Integrated Visual Magnitude: 11.5 Apparent Diameter: 6.2' x 1.5' Mean surface brightness: 22.5 mag/arc-sec2 Minimum requirements to view: 4-inch scope under dark skies |
You won't find this galaxy in Houston's Deep Sky Wonders or Burnham's Celestial Handbook. But it is worth a look nonetheless, mostly because it makes a nice pair with the nearby NGC 3513. NGC 3511's main claim to fame is its appearance in the April 1996 Sky & Telescope article Edge-on Galaxies of Spring by Tom Polakis.
Polakis described NGC 3511 as "of average brightness, 4'x1' p.a. 75 deg., mottled with the brightest portion to the N of center measuring 1'x0.5'." In my 18-inch f/4.5 this galaxy appeared sort of fat and "odd looking." It had a granular appearance, with some sort of symmetric structure glimpsed to either side of the stellar core. In the same 97x field lies NGC 3513, making a fine pair. NGC 3513 appears to me as a uniform oval haze, although Polakis saw a faint bar.
The field in a 6-inch at 50x. North is down and east is to the right.
| Millennium
Star Atlas Vol II Chart 873
Sky Atlas 2000 Chart 20 Uranometria 2000 Vol II Chart 326 |
