NGC 3370


NGC 3370 is a spiral galaxy about 98 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It is comparable to our own Milky Way both in diameter and mass. NGC 3370 exhibits an intricate spiral arm structure surrounding a poorly defined nucleus.

History

NGC 3370 was likely discovered by William Herschel, who provided it with the designation II 81. His son John later designated it 750. William Herschel cataloged I 80 to NGC 3348 before and II 82 to NGC 3455 after NGC 3370.
The object has a surface brightness of 13 and a position angle of 140°.
On November 14, 1994, S. Van Dyk and the Leuschner Observatory Supernova Search discovered a supernova in NGC 3370 at 10h 44m 21.52s +17° 32′ 20.7′′, designated SN 1994ae. SN 1994ae was a type Ia supernova, and one of the nearest and best observed since the advent of modern digital detectors. The maximal light of the supernova was estimated to have occurred between November 30 and December 1, peaking at visual magnitude 13.
image from 2003