NGC 3486 is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy located approximately 27.4 million light-years away in the small northern constellation of Leo Minor.
It is known for its distinct, “sparkling” appearance. Its face-on orientation allows observers to see its complex spiral structure clearly.
The galaxy spans roughly 60,000 to 66,500 light-years in diameter.
What makes this galaxy even more fascinating is the presence of a gravitational lensing effect caused by its own mass. Due to the intense gravitational field of NGC 3486, light from objects behind it is bent and distorted. This phenomenon creates an incredible visual effect: three small galaxies seemingly surrounding NGC 3486. In reality, these are multiple images of the same distant galaxy, magnified and warped by the gravitational lens.
I captured this image from my driveway in western North Carolina. I used an RC8 telescope paired with the ZWO ASI071MC Pro camera. These sit atop a Skywatcher Eq6r Pro mount. Image contains 110 3 minute subframes taken the night of March 13th, 2026. The subframes were Calibrated, debayered, aligned, integrated, and processed using PixInsight.
