NGC 3003 is a nearly edge-on barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Leo Minor, discovered by German-British astronomer William Herschel on December 7, 1785. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 11.78, and spans an angular size of . NGC 3003 is located at a distance of 19.5 Mpc from the Sun, with a recessional velocity of 1,474 km/s.
The morphological classification of NGC 3003 is SBbc, indicating a barred spiral (SB) with moderate to loosely wound spiral arms (bc). The shape of the galaxy suggests it has been disturbed, possibly by NGC 3021. The two have a projected separation of about . NGC 3003 displays high luminosity in the hydrogen-alpha line, showing a bright nucleus and many prominent H II regions. 25 independent star forming regions have been identified, including the nuclear region. There is a bright and compact region to the southwest, which may be the remains of a dwarf galaxy or an intense H II region.
Supernova and luminous blue variable
One supernova and one luminous blue variable have been observed in NGC 3003: SN 1961F (TypeII, mag. 13.1) was discovered by Paul Wild on 21 February 1961. AT 2020jev (Type LBV, mag. 20.33) was discovered by Pan-STARRS on 4 May 2020.
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