M65 / M66 / NGC 3628

Leo Triplet

April 20, 2025 · Glasgow, back garden · 5h total integration

Leo Triplet (M65 / M66 / NGC 3628) View full resolution ↗

A beautiful group of three interacting galaxies in Leo, roughly 35 million light-years away. M65 and M66 are bright spirals visible in smaller scopes, while NGC 3628 (the Hamburger Galaxy) is seen edge-on with a prominent dust lane bisecting its disc. With deep integration, a faint tidal tail extends from NGC 3628 — a 300,000-light-year stream of stars pulled out by gravitational interaction with its neighbours.