The Leo Triplet: M66 Group of Galaxies | Kitt Peak National Observatory

The Leo Triplet: M66 Group of Galaxies | Kitt Peak National Observatory

This small group of galaxies consists of the Messier objects M65 (NGC 3623), lower right, and M66 (NGC 3627), 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. It includes a number of other galaxies that 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 (NGC 3368) 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 (KPNO) and supported by the National Science Foundation. 

Image size 40.6x50.8 arc minutes

Image Credit: REU Program / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA

Release Date: June 30, 2020

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