Leo Triplet (M66 group)

Noirlab_noao-m65a66_1024

noirlab_noao-m65a66 June 30th, 2020

Credit: REU program/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/

This small group of galaxies consists of the Messier objects M65 (NGC3623), lower right, and M66 (NGC3627), lower left, along with the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC3628, upper left. These three galaxies form a rather attractive triplet at the heart of the M66 group, which includes a number of other galaxies which are "out of shot". The Leo Triplet also appears in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. At a distance of 35 million light-years, maybe a little further, the M66 group may be related to M96 (NGC3368) and the Leo I galaxy group. This approximately true-color picture was created from images taken in June 1995 using BVR colors, at the Burrell Schmidt telescope of Case Western Reserve University's Warner and Swasey Observatory located on Kitt Peak, near Tucson, Arizona, during the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program operated at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and supported by the National Science Foundation. Image size 40.6x50.8 arc minutes.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-m65a66/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M65 • M66 • M96 • NGC 3368 • NGC 3623 • NGC 3627
Noirlab_noao-m65a66_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 11h 19m 55.3s
DEC = 13° 25’ 15.3”
Orientation
North is 2.0° CCW
Field of View
40.6 x 50.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Leo

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
WIYN-0.9m (None) Optical (R) -
Burrell (None) Optical (V) -
Burrell (None) Optical (B) -
Noirlab_noao-m65a66_1280
×
ID
noao-m65a66
Subject Category
Subject Name
M65, M66, M96, NGC 3368, NGC 3623, NGC 3627
Credits
REU program/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/
Release Date
2020-06-30T21:33:51
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-m65a66/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope, Burrell Schmidt Telescope, Burrell Schmidt Telescope
Instrument
None, None, None
Color Assignment
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
R, V, B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
None, None, None
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
169.9804237, 13.42091684
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 3000.0
Reference Pixel
1090.193192, 1969.970215
Scale
-0.000282, 0.000282
Rotation
1.997012969
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NSF's NOIRLab
URL
https://noirlab.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
950 North Cherry Ave.
City
Tucson
State/Province
AZ
Postal Code
85719
Country
USA
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
NSF's NOIRLab
Publisher ID
noirlab
Resource ID
noao-m65a66
Resource URL
http://noirlab.edu/public/media/archives/images/original/noao-m65a66.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2024-10-02T11:52:26.477064
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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