NGC 2903 - barred spiral galaxy type SBbc in the constellation Leo

ASA 12"Astrograph - 1.09 x 1.67 deg FOV

Bigger size: 1800 px

NGC 2903 was discovered by William Herschel who cataloged it on November 16, 1784. It is a barred spiral galaxy at about 8.9 Mpc (29 Mly) distance towards the constellation Leo. Little smaller than our own Milky Way, NGC 2903 is about 24.5 Kpc (80 000 ly) across.

NGC 2903 is characterized by its barred, grand-design spiral pattern. It displays a number of “hot spots” in its nuclear region as well as a ring of star formation (e.g., Pérez-Ramirez et al. 2000). The nuclear dust distribution is chaotic (Martini et al.2003). The star formation efficiency in the central regions of NGC 2903 is higher than in normal galaxies (Alonso-Herrero et al., 2001).

NGC 2903 is an isolated (Karachentseva, 1973) spiral galaxy with circumnuclear star formation, a bar, and grand-design spiral arms. Aside from evidence of nuclear star formation, however, NGC 2903 is a typical massive spiral whose properties are similar to those of the MW. In the region, there are now three known companions: UGS 05086 and D565-06, are known to be associated (Drozdovsky & Karachentsev 2000) and a third companion, D565-10 previously known system that is likely a dwarf spheroidal (Irwin et al. 2009).

Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net

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