Most often called the Hamburger galaxy due to the massive lane of outer dust that appears to bisect the galaxy from our view on Earth, this is NGC 3628. It’s a spiral galaxy that is approximately 35 million lightyears away that we witness from the side. Given its relatively distorted shape and 300,000 lightyear long tidal tail (a sliver of which you can see in the upper left of my image), it has been dramatically impacted by interactions with other galaxies. This image is a part of the Leo Triplet which I captured as part of a massive 4 panel mosaic last April and will share with you soon.
This galaxy is also known as Sarah’s Galaxy, after the 19th century poet Sarah Williams who wrote the poem The Old Astronomer:
“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night.”
Isn’t that beautiful!?
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