Galaxy NGC 3628 and (3184) Raab (Main belt asteroid)
Named in honour of Herbert Raab (the author of
Astrometrica),
main belt asteroid (3184) Raab was drifting very slowly northwest past the
mag +10 edge-on spiral NGC 3628 in Leo, about 0.5° north of the pair
M65/M66 when imaged in January 2004.
A set of 21 exposures was made of the field and stacked together using
Astrometrica to record the asteroid and galaxy, but because the asteroid
was only moving at 0.25"/minute a further set of 7 images was taken about
an hour after the first and used to animate the asteroid's motion.
(3184) Raab was discovered in August 1949 by E.L. Johnson at
Johannesburg when it was at its very brightest, just a few days from
perihelion at magnitude +14.0.
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