M65 & M66

Object Type: Galaxy
Scope: C-9.25"; Exposure 180 minutes.

Messier 65 and Messier 66 are two bright spiral galaxies about 36 million light-years away in Leo. Together with the edge-on galaxy NGC 3628, they form the well-known 'Leo Triplet.' M65 is a relatively quiet spiral, low in gas and dust with little current star formation, giving it a high ratio of old to young stars, while M66 is more disturbed and asymmetric from past gravitational interaction with its neighbors.