Daily Image
09-05-2007
A triplet in Leo
| Submitter: | Albert van Duin |
| Description: | The Leo Triplet, with M65 at the upper right, M66 at the lower right, and NGC 3628 at the lower left. Messier 65 (also known as NGC 3623) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. M65, M66, and NGC 3628 comprise the famous Leo Triplet, a small group of galaxies. The galaxy is low in dust and gas, and there is little star formation in it; there has been some relatively recently in the arms. The ratio of old stars to new stars is correspondingly quite high. In most wavelengths it is quite uninteresting, though there is a radio source visible in the NVSS (NRAO VLA Sky Survey), offset from the core by about two arc-minutes. The identity of the source is uncertain, as it has not been identified visually, or formally studied in any published papers. To the eye, M65's disk appears slightly warped, and its relatively recent burst of star formation is also suggestive of some external disturbance. Rots (1978) suggests that the two other galaxies in the Leo Triplet interacted with each other about 800 million years ago. Recent research by Zhiyu Duan suggests that M65 may also have interacted, though much less strongly. He also notes that M65 may have a central bar -- it is difficult to tell because the galaxy is seen from an oblique angle -- a feature which is suggestive of tidal disruption. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_65 The image above was acquired on April 18, 2007 from Beilen. It's a 44 minute integration with a modified Canon 350D set at 1600 ISO and a 20cm f/2.75 ASA Astrograph. A full size version can be found at http://www.astropix.nl |
| Copyright: | Albert van Duin |
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