Optics/mount : 12″ACF 2.7m AP-Reduzer Alt-5
Camera/filters: Atik 11002 Astrodon LRGB
Exposure: 37×600 Lum, 12×600 RGB all 1bin
23-24 March 2012
Discovered by W. Herschel in April 1789 NGC 3718 is located in the constellation of the big dipper and is to be categorized as a Seyfert galaxy. It holds 8.2 by 3.5 arc minutes and appears to be 10m6 bright for the visual observer. While the galaxy is in a distance of some 52 Mio light years from earth, it’s warped spiral shape is pertubated by the neighbourghing galaxy NGC 3729, which is devided from 3718 by 150000 light years. Both are therefor interacting in a gravitational way, like the fainter galaxy couple south to 3718. These group of galaxies (Hickson 56 by name) is more than 400 Mio lightyears away from our planet.