Title

Leo Triplet

Creator

Marco Ciocca, Eastern Kentucky UniversityFollow

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Description

Due to the formation mechanism, galaxies form groups in which many galaxies are nearby each other. “Nearby” is a relative term, as distance are gigantic. In this case, however, we can actually see three galaxies together. The location of this group is in the Constellation of Leo the Lyon, hence the moniker.

These are 3 spiral galaxies seen under different perspective. Top right is M65 (object number 65 of the catalog of objects described by Charles Messier), bottom right is M66. M65 was catalogued by Messier in 1780. M66 was also discovered in 1780. On the left we see NGC 3628, known as the Hamburger galaxy. A more genteel name for it is Sarah’s galaxy and was NOT discovered by Messier but by William Herschel in 1784.

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