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Explanation: This popular group is famous as the Leo Triplet - a gathering of three magnificent galaxies in one field of view. Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, these galaxies can be introduced individually as NGC 3628 (top), M66 (bottom left), and M65 (bottom right). All three are large spiral galaxies. They tend to look dissimilar because their galactic disks are tilted at different angles to our line of sight. NGC 3628 is seen edge-on, with obscuring dust lanes cutting across the plane of the galaxy, while the disks of M66 and M65 are both inclined enough to show off their spiral structure. Gravitational interactions between galaxies in the group have also left telltale signs, including the warped and inflated disk of NGC 3628 and the drawn out spiral arms of M66. This gorgeous deep view of the region was taken by the new VLT Survey Telescope (VST) and spans about one degree (two full moons) on the sky. The field covers over 500 thousand light-years at the trio's estimated distance of 30 million light-years.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Leo - interacting galaxies
Publications with words: Leo - interacting galaxies
See also:
- APOD: 2025 June 1 B UGC 1810: Wildly Interacting Galaxy from Hubble
- The Leo Trio
- APOD: 2025 March 12 B NGC 772: The Fiddlehead Galaxy
- Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
- APOD: 2025 January 6 B Colliding Spiral Galaxies from Webb and Hubble
- Shell Galaxies in Pisces
- APOD: 2024 July 15 B The Tadpole Galaxy from Hubble