The appearance of spiral galaxy NGC 3521./Courtesy of Vikas Chander

The magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is located about 35 million light-years (a light-year is the distance light travels in one year, approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers) from Earth and is situated in the direction of the constellation Leo, which is a spring constellation in the northern hemisphere. It is relatively bright in the Earth's sky, making it easy to observe even with a small telescope.

However, among amateur astrophotographers, it is often overlooked as it is overshadowed by other spiral galaxies in Leo, such as M66 and M65. Nevertheless, one cannot miss NGC 3521 amidst the vibrant cosmic photographs.

Spanning about 50,000 light-years, this galaxy is characterized by its mottled and irregular spiral arms, intertwined dust structures, pink star formation regions, and clusters of young, blue stars. Deep field images have captured NGC 3521 surrounded by faint yet massive bubble-shaped shells. These shells are likely streams of stars torn from remnants created by tidal interactions, specifically from satellite galaxies that merged with NGC 3521 in the past.