NGC 3370

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**NGC 3370**
Observation data: J2000 epoch
Spiral galaxy NGC 3370. Credit: NASA/ESA
Constellation:	Leo
Right ascension:	10^h 47^m 04.0^s^[1]
Declination:	+17° 16′ 25″^[1]
Redshift:	1279 ± 4 km/s^[1]
Distance:	98 Mly
Type:	SA(s)c^[1] III^{[citation needed]}
Apparent dimensions (V):	3′.2 × 1′.8^[1]
Apparent magnitude (V):	12.3^[1]
Notable features:	Dusty
Other designations
UGC 5887,^[1] PGC 32207 Silverado Galaxy^{[citation needed]}
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

NGC 3370 (also known as UGC 5887, nicknamed Silverado Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 98 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It is similar in size to our own Milky Way. It was probably discovered by William Herschel between September 7, 1782 and his death in 1822. NGC 3370 exhibits intricate spiral arm structure that is sprinkled with hot areas where new stars are forming. NGC 3370's center has well defined dust lanes and an unusually ill-defined nucleus. This galaxy contains a combination of young stars in the bluer regions and older stars in the yellowish core. The mass of NGC 3370 is estimated to be about the same as our own Milky Way at around 10¹¹ solar masses. NGC 3370 is sometimes referred to as the Silverado galaxy.

NGC 3370 was observed (probably discovered) by William Herschel who gave it the designation II 81 and John Herschel who gave it the designation 750. The object has a surface brightness of 13 and a position angle of 140°. William Herschel cataloged II 80 to NGC 3348 before and II 82 to NGC 3455 after NGC 3370.

1 History
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] History

On November 14, 1994, S. Van Dyk and the Leuschner Observatory Supernova Search took an image that led to their discovery of a bright supernova in NGC 3370. This was well before the maximal light of the supernova which has been estimated to have occurred in the range November 30 to December 1. This stellar outburst briefly outshone all of the tens of billions of other stars in its galaxy. Although supernova are common, with one exploding every few seconds somewhere in the universe, this one was special. Designated SN 1994ae, this supernova was one of the nearest and best observed supernova since the advent of modern digital detectors. The supernova was also a member of a special subclass of supernovae, the type Ia, the best tool astronomers have to chart the growth rate of the expanding universe. The supernova was located at 10^h 44^m 21.52^s +17° 32′ 20.7′′.