NGC 3718 is also known as ARP 214. It is a distorted spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located about 59 Million Light Years away. Its distorted form is due to gravitational interaction with the other galaxy seen in this image, NGC 3729. This interaction happened at some point in the distant past. These are all part of a group of galaxies known as the Ursa Major Cluster.
One interesting footnote – below NGC 3718 you can see a small grouping of elongated shapes, very close together. While not shown very well in my image, this is a small group of 5 galaxies known as Hickson 56. These Galaxies are estimated to be about 400 Million Light Years away!
