Kwychang
Leo Triplet.
A triplet of galaxies that can be found, surprisingly enough, in the constellation of Leo.
The three galaxies making up the triplet are M65 (upper left), M66 (upper right) and NGC 3628 (bottom centre).
M65 & M66 are given Messier catalogue numbers as they were first discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1780. NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger galaxy, was missed by Messier. Most likely due to it's lower magnitude (brightness). It was however, discovered just four years later by German born, British astronomer William Herschel in 1784. Lying about 35 million light years away the three galaxies are thought to be interacting with each other. All three show signs of disturbance of some sort, especially the brighter of the three M66. Noticeable in the spiral arms and by the bursts of star formation clearly taking place in those spiral arms.
All data gathered at The Astronomy Centre, Todmorden, UK.
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c gain 100, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
180s exposures, Gain110 at -20c
Best 70% of 40 light frames.
Darks, Flats & Bias.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker, and processed in StarTools.
Leo Triplet.
A triplet of galaxies that can be found, surprisingly enough, in the constellation of Leo.
The three galaxies making up the triplet are M65 (upper left), M66 (upper right) and NGC 3628 (bottom centre).
M65 & M66 are given Messier catalogue numbers as they were first discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1780. NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger galaxy, was missed by Messier. Most likely due to it's lower magnitude (brightness). It was however, discovered just four years later by German born, British astronomer William Herschel in 1784. Lying about 35 million light years away the three galaxies are thought to be interacting with each other. All three show signs of disturbance of some sort, especially the brighter of the three M66. Noticeable in the spiral arms and by the bursts of star formation clearly taking place in those spiral arms.
All data gathered at The Astronomy Centre, Todmorden, UK.
Boring techie bit:
Skywatcher Quattro 8" Newtonian Reflector steel tube with the f4 aplanatic coma corrector, Skywatcher EQ6 R pro mount, Altair Starwave 50mm guide scope, ZWO asi120mm guide camera mini, ZWO asi533mc pro cooled to -10c gain 100, Optolong L'enhance 2" filter, ZWO asiair plus.
180s exposures, Gain110 at -20c
Best 70% of 40 light frames.
Darks, Flats & Bias.
Stacked with DeepSkyStacker, and processed in StarTools.