Leo Triplet of Galaxies [Robotic, GMO 1]

An attractive grouping of 3 spiral galaxies in Leo about 35 million LY away. Comprising:

 

NGC 3628 “the Hamburger galaxy” - Edge on spiral with prominent dust lane. There is a long tail to the left of the galaxy of stars displaced by a previous gravitational encounter - just visible here.

 

Messier 65 spiral galaxy mostly old stars with little dust or gas except where it may have interacted with the other 2. 1 supernova detected.

 

Messier 66 barred spiral with 5 supernovae detected consistent with excess young Star formation probably due to interaction with the other 2.

 

Astrometry:

Resolution ............... 2.395 arcsec/px

Focal distance ........... 323.84 mm

Pixel size ............... 3.76 um

Field of view ............ 1d 26' 34.5" x 1d 1' 47.3"

Image centre............. RA: 11 20 03.322 Dec: +13 21 05.05

 

System 1 Scope:

Camera: QHY600M 16-Bit CMOS, Binned x2

Optics: Takahashi FSQ130

Aperture: 130mm

Focal Length: 650mm

Focal Ratio: F5

Guiding: Stellarvue 50mm

Done