M65, M66, & NGC3628 GALAXIES on 2024-02-19+20

This photo was taken in Kyle, Texas, under Bortle 5.9 skies, through a 6-inch f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera. The processing was done with PixInsight. The total image acquisition time is: 05 hrs 54 min 00 sec. The processing was done with PixInsight. [Full Size View] Full size files are very large and can take a minute to download. After downloading the full-size picture to zoom in or out on a computer hold down the Ctrl key and use the scroll mouse button, or you can press the + or - key.

M65, M66, & NGC3628 GALAXIES, are also called THE LEO TRIPLET because they are located within the constellation of Leo. In this photo NGC3628 is at the top and is viewed edge-on displaying beautiful dust lanes. M66 is located at the lower left, and M65 is at the lower right. M66 is also called Messier 66 and is the largest of the three galaxies at 100,000 light years across. The distance between M66 and M65 is about 200,000 light years. The Leo Triplet of galaxies are located about 33 million light years away from the Earth. If you carefully examine the "Full Size View" you will discover numerous other small galaxies scattered throughout the picture.

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