The Hamburger Galaxy - NGC 3628 in Leo
Taken by Tom Wildoner on April 8, 2026 @
Weatherly, PA, USA
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Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
ISO: Unavailable
Date Taken: 2026:05:23 13:46:09
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Details:
NGC 3628, popularly known as the Hamburger Galaxy (or Sarah's Galaxy), is a striking spiral galaxy located approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Discovered by William Herschel in 1784, this spectacular cosmic structure spans roughly 100,000 light-years across and is famously viewed from Earth directly along its edge. This unique vantage point highlights its most distinguishing feature: a broad, dark lane of cosmic dust that dramatically bisects its glowing galactic center, giving it its distinct, sandwich-like appearance. Together with its cosmic neighbors Messier 65 and Messier 66, NGC 3628 forms the famous Leo Triplet, a small group of gravitationally interacting galaxies. Millions of years of violent gravitational tug-of-war with its companions have visibly warped the galaxy's disk and pulled out a massive, faint "tidal tail" of stars and gas that stretches an incredible 300,000 light-years into deep space.
🔭 Technical Details:
Telescope: Meade 12” LX-90 SCT with Antares Focal Reducer
Camera: ZWO ASI071MC (cooled to -10C) BIN2
Mount: Celestron CGX-L pier mounted
Capture: 162 x 60 seconds
Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA (Bortle 4)
Processing: DeepSkyStacker + PixInsight
Image Date: April 8, 2026.
Photographer's website:
https://www.thedarksideobservatory.com
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