NGC 3115

NGC 3115 (also called the Spindle Galaxy or Caldwell 53) is a lenticular (S0) galaxy in the constellation Sextans. The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on February 22, 1787. At about 32 million light-years away from us it is several times bigger than our Milky Way. It is a lenticular (S0) galaxy because it contains a disk and a central bulge of stars, but without a detectable spiral pattern. NGC 3115 is seen almost exactly edge-on that it was occasionally mis-classified as elliptical. There is some speculation that NGC 3115, in its youth, was a quasar.