Credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE & KPNO/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image processing: M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Among the nearly four billion objects in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys’ map is Messier 96 (NGC 3368), a majestic spiral galaxy nestled in the constellation Leo approximately 35 million light-years from Earth. Spanning 100,000 light-years, slightly larger than our own Milky Way in size, it’s the brightest member of the Messier 96 Group, the closest grouping of galaxies to our own Local Group. The Messier 96 data were extracted from the DESI Legacy Survey and captured by the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a powerful CCD camera affixed to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The asymmetrical appearance of Messier 96 hints at its history of gravitational interactions: dark dust trails are distributed unevenly throughout the spiral arms, which appear smeared in certain areas. Though it’s not obvious in this image, scientists agree that the bright core is not exactly at the center of the galaxy where they would expect it to be. These distorted spiral patterns and the misplaced central core point to disruption caused by the gravitational pull exerted by other galaxies in the Messier 96 Group that have drifted farther away from this preeminent group member.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2620a/

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

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License