Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628)
A small group of three spiral galaxies (M65 - mag 10.1, M66 - mag 8.9, NGC 3628 - mag 9.5) in Leo. All require a telescope to be seen well and fit in a wide-field view.
Galaxy group in Leo.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 84° above the northern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 80° above the northern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 9 Mar, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
- Your eyes: Not visible to the eye.
- 10x50 binoculars: M65 and M66 are just visible as two faint smudges from a dark site.
- A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): All three galaxies fit in one low-power field; NGC 3628 is the faintest.
- A camera: Spans about 40% of an APS-C frame at 800 mm (field 1.7° × 1.1°); needs a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
- Size on the sky: 46′, 1.5 Moons across (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
- Distance: 35 million light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 35 million years ago.
What it is made of
- Type
- Galaxy Group
- Distance
- Approx. 35 million Lightyears
- True size
- Group spans ~700,000 Lightyears
- M65 (Spiral Galaxy): Dusty arms, less active star formation
- M66 (Spiral Galaxy): Prominent arms, active star formation, distorted
- NGC 3628 (Hamburger Galaxy): Edge-on spiral, warped dust lane, tidal tail
More deep-sky objects: Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111) · Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565) · Black Eye Galaxy (M64) · Sombrero Galaxy (M104) · Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242) · M67 (Open Cluster)