M-105 (NGC-3379) is large, bright elliptical galaxy located in Leo the lion. It lies 36 million light years from Earth and is 54,000 light years in diameter. It is a class E1 elliptical, meaning it is only 10% elongated. M-105 was discovered in March of 1781 by Pierre Mechain. M-105 has two companions, which are visible in this image. To the lower left if the small spiral NGC-3389, and to the upper left is NGC-3384m a barred spiral. M-105 and 3384 are probably associated, while the fainter 3389 lies in the background at a greater distance.
This image, acquired on March 2, 2017, is a 1 hour integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.