NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light years away in the constellation of Leo. It is part of the Leo triplet, which is a small group of galaxies including M65 and M66.

Towards the upper middle of this image you can see a faint tidal tail - This is approximately 300,000 light years in length.

The galaxy was first discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

Details

M: Mesu 200

T: TMB 152/1200

C: QSI690 Chroma RGB, IDAS LP for luminance

102x1200s Luminance

​75x300s in Red, Green and Blue

​Totalling 52 hours and 45 minutes in exposure time.

If you zoom in you can ever make out Galaxy NGC3628 300,000 light-years long tidal tail off to it's right.

Canon EOS 6D (Baader filter modified)

Focal length: Canon 400mm f5.6

Tracking Mount: Skywatcher EM35-Pro.

Guiding: None

Exposure: 100 x 60sec @ ISO-6400 (RAW)

With calibration frames applied.

Software: Astro Pixel Processor & Lightroom.

Object: Leo Triplet (M66 Group)

The Leo Triplet or the M66 Group is a small group of galaxies approximately 35 million light-years away and located in the constellation of Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, M66(NGC3627), and NGC3628 (The Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah’s Galaxy) .

-Acquisition Date: 2/22/2020 – 03/01/2020

-Location: Western Massachusetts

-Camera: FLI ML1620 @ -25°C

-Telescope: Astro-TECH AT130 with APM Riccardi APO Flattener 1.0x

-Mount: Astro-Physics AP1100

-Guide scope: Celestron Off Axis Guider

-Guide Camera: ASI174 mini

Filters:

Astrodon Gen II E Filters

Luminance: 72 x 120sec (144 min)

Red: 81 x 120sec (162 min)

Green: 72 x 120sec (144 min)

Blue: 78 x 120sec (156 min)

Total Exposure:606 min. (10.1hr)

Limiting Magnitude: 5.1

Processed in Pixinsight 1.8.8-5 and Adobe PS5

Frames recorded at DeepSkyWest with a Takahashi FSQ106EDXIII and QSI683.

www.astrobin.com/251880/

L: 32x900s

RGB: (12, 13, 15)x600s

Copyright: R. Colombari

Note: Comet 67P was passing through the field. Its passage is visible near the tidal tail of NGC3628

______________________________

Leo Triplet

Explanation: A mere 30 million light-years away, large spiral galaxy NGC 3628 (center left) shares its neighborhood in the local Universe with two other large spirals, in a magnificent grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. In fact, fellow trio member M65 is near the center right edge of this deep cosmic group portrait, with M66 just above it and to the left. But, perhaps most intriguing is the spectacular tail stretching down for about 300,000 light-years from NGC 3628's warped, edge-on disk. Known as a tidal tail, the structure has been drawn out of the galaxy by gravitational tides during brief but violent past interactions with its large neighbors. Not often imaged so distinctly, the tidal tail is composed of young bluish star clusters and star-forming regions.

Source: APOD

DESCRIPTION: The Leo Triplet, M65, M66, NGC3628, constellation Leo. RA (center) 11h 20 min, DEC 13° 15’, FOV approx 1,9°x 1,3°.

GEAR: Nikon Z7 Kolari Full Spectrum + Nikkor 500/5,6 PF, Astronomic UV/IR/L2 Clip in filter, Astroklar light pollution filter, Dew heater strip, tracking mount iOptron CEM60EC

ACQUISITION: march 22, 2022, Struz, CZ, Subexposure 180s, f 5,6, ISO 1600, Interval 15 s, RAW-L, Lights 21x, Darks 20x, Bias 20x, Flats 20x, DarkFlats 15x. Total exposure time 63 min. Night, breeze, 3° C, no Moon, Backyard - Light pollution - Bortle 5.

STACKING AND POST PROCESSING: AstroPixelProcessor (stacking, background neutralisation, light pollution removal, calibrate background and stars colours), Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 (stretching, black and white point settings, star reduction, enhance DSO, deep space noise reduction, contrast setting and sharpening). Cropped 4,7x, image size 3840 x 2560 px.

ASI 294 MC PRO.

72 ED Skywatcher con reductor/aplanador 0.85.

Star Adventurer.

Guiado Asi 120mm Mini.

Ganancia 123/ 30 offset/ -10ºc

41x300s

L-Pro

Bortle 8.

PixInsight, Topaz Denoise AI.

M65 - M66 - NGC 3628: Leo Triplet

Optics: Skyrover 130SA 130mm f/5 Refractor

Camera: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro

Blue: 42x300 sec

Green: 39x300 sec

Lum: 58x300 sec

Red: 42x300 sec

starbase.insightobservatory.com/home

nova.astrometry.net/user_images/11726687#annotated

Calibration

Center (RA, Dec):(169.427, 13.151)

Center (RA, hms):11h 17m 42.536s

Center (Dec, dms):+13° 09' 04.980"

Size:1.91 x 1.56 deg

Radius:1.233 deg

Pixel scale:1.19 arcsec/pixel

Tags:

The star n Leo

73 Leo

NGC 3593

NGC 3623

M 65

NGC 3627

M 66

NGC 3628

NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah's Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. It has an approximately 300,000 light-years long tidal tail. Along with M65 and M66, NGC 3628 forms the Leo Triplet, a small group of galaxies. Its most conspicuous feature is the broad and obscuring band of dust located along the outer edge of its spiral arms, effectively transecting the galaxy to the view from Earth.

Due to the presence of an x-shaped bulge, visible in multiple wavelengths, it has been argued that NGC 3628 is instead a barred spiral galaxy with the bar seen end-on. Simulations have shown that bars often form in disk galaxies during interactions and mergers, and NGC 3628 is known to be interacting with its two large neighbors.Ngc 3628 Hamburger

12 "Truss RC telescope reduced to 1790

Moravian off-axis guider and Moravian G0300 guide camera

Celestron 80/600 guide tube with Asi Zwo 224

Moravian G2 8300 camera with internal wheel

Ioptron Cem120 mount

Moonlite focuser and 3.5 "electronic rotator

Electronic temperature control and anti-condensation bands

Cls ccd, R, G, B, Ha 6nm filters, all Astronomik

Shooting data:

101x240s Cls CCD

15x600s Ha

31x240s R

31x240s G

31x240s B

Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop, star spikes, astronomy tools

Leo Triplet galaxies (M65, M66 & NGC3628)

L-RGB

Bin1x1 L:2h36mn, Bin2x2 R:21mn, G:30mn & B:18mm exposure time

200/1000 mm Newton telescope

Camera ZWO ASI1600MM Pro

Preprocessing with SIRIL

Image processing with Photoshop

Final touch with Lightroom

"The Leo Triplet, or the M66 Group, is a group of interacting spiral galaxies located in the northern constellation Leo. The group consists of the galaxies Messier 65, Messier 66 and NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy. The Leo Triplet lies at an approximate distance of 35 million light years from Earth."

Askar 120APO: 840mm f/7

ZWO ASI533MC Cooled Color Camera at -20C

Guided on ZWO AM5

51x180s with UV/IR cut filter

Processed with PixInsight, Ps

ASI 294 MC PRO.

72 ED Skywatcher con reductor/aplanador 0.85.

Star Adventurer.

Guiado Asi 120mm Mini.

Ganancia 123/ 30 offset/ -10ºc

41x300s

L-Pro

Bortle 8.

PixInsight, Topaz Denoise AI.

NGC 3628, aussi appelé la galaxie du hambuger en raison de ressemblance avec le célèbre sandwich, est une vaste galaxie spirale vue par la tranche et située dans la constellation du Lion à environ 38 millions d'années-lumière de la Voie lactée.

Celestron C9 + ASI1600MC. 120x60s. SIRIL et Photoshop.

NGC3628 is also known as the Hamburger Galaxy and is located in the constellation of Leo about 35 million light years away. Along with M65 and M66 it forms a part of the famous Leo Triplet. It is about 100,000 light years across and has a faint tidal tail about 300,000 light years long, a small portion of which can be seen starting from the upper left corner of the galaxy and extending to the left edge of the screen. it has a prominent dust lane bisecting the main body of the galaxy.

Last quick pass of the night. A trio of galaxies... M65, M66, and NGC3628. Just an hour of data.... needs about 3-4 hours.

Leo Triplet M66-M65-NGC3628 - Galaxies - Constellation Leo The Leo Triplet is composed of the spiral galaxies M66, M65 and NGC3628, they are in interaction with each other and a neutral hydrogen halo connects them, a sign of a close encounter that took place 800 million years ago. The triplet is about 35 million light years from us and is located in the constellation Leo. M66 the largest and brightest of the complex is also known as NGC3627 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. Quite easy to locate halfway between the stars θ Leonis and ι Leonis. In order to appreciate some of its details, it is necessary to have a telescope with an aperture of at least 150mm. Visible from both hemispheres, the best period for its observation is between February and August. M65 also known as NGC3623 was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 at the same time as M66, Charles Messier described it as a very faint and starless nebula. 22 million light years away from us, it is estimated to have a diameter of about 70,000 light years and a mass equal to 85 billion solar masses. NGC3628 third component of the triplet is less luminous than the others, but very extensive, crossed in its length by a long luminous band, it is about 35 million light years from us, it was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel.

Looking onto this galaxy from the side.

Le fameux trio du Lion au Quattro 20-800. 19 poses de 180s. Siril et Nina. Seccion écourtée cause brouillard.

Imaged during the night of the 3-4 March this is an image of the galaxy triplet in the constellation of Leo.

Two of the galaxies were catalogued by Charles Messier, M66 (top left) and M65 (bottom left). The third galaxy (right) is found in the NGC Catalogue as NGC 3628.

NGC 3628 is popularly known as the "Hamburger Galaxy" due to its edge on appearance to us said to resemble a Hamburger.....!

Lying at a distance of 35 million light-years from us they are a true group of interacting systems.

Our viewpoint means we see the three galaxies at different angles. NGC appears edge-on - displaying lots of dust and a prominent dust lane.

M65 & M66 are inclined enough so that their spiral arms are visible.

The three systems are very different in character.

M66 is a barred and shows a high rate of star formation with numerous tell-tale red/pink areas of glowing hydrogen gas. Its spiral arms are also deformed, indicative of interactive gravitational forces within the group.

M65 is an intermediate spiral and is poor in dust and star formation. It appears the least affected by interaction showing a more or less classical spiral shape.

NGC3628 is an unbarred spiral which we see edge on. The galaxy is transacted by a broad band of dust which stretches along its outer edge hiding young stars in the galaxy arms.

Imaged with an Esprit 120ED with flattener and a cooled ZWO 2600MC camera.

Thanks for looking!

I tested my new Optolong L Pro filter 77 mm with 70-200/2,8 lens. This photo is only 1 shot - 300 s taken by Nikon Z7, f 2,8, ISO 1600, cropped 15x, FOV 2,7 x 1,8 ang.deg. I could not take more shots because bad weather. I think the result is not bad. Next time I will take more shots including darks, bias and flats. Precessed in Adobe PS + Astronomic tools. Taken on April 22, 2020.

Captured at PixelSkies, Castillejar, Spain

www.pixelskiesastro.com

FSQ-85ED details

Lum 83 x 600s

Red 49 x 180s

Green 53 x 180s

Blue 49 x 180s

21 Hours 23 mins in total.

TEC140 details

Lum 32x600Secs

5 hours 20 mins in total.

Equipment used:

Telescope: Takahashi Baby Q FSQ-85ED F5.3, TEC140 F7

Camera: Xpress Trius SX-694 Pro Mono Cooled to -20C

Image Scale: 2.08

Guiding: OAG

Filters: Astronomik Lum,Red,Green,Blue

Mount: iOptron CEM60 "Standard" GOTO Centre Balanced Equatorial Mount

Image Acquisition: Voyager

Observatory control: Lunatico Dragonfly

Stacking and Calibrating: Pixinsight

Processing: Pixinsight 1.8, Photoshop CC, StarXTerminator, StarNet v2, NoiseXTerminator, BlurXTerminator

1100mm/F7.3 telescope

Pentax 645z (astro-modified)

Apogee F16M cooled CCD

total exposure time = 34.1 hr

see www.astrobin.com/jlmim2/ for more technical details.

Addition de 8 images, temps total de pose : 30mn à 800iso, prises avec un canon 350D + filtre CLS, et une lunettes SW 80ED600. Le 08/02/2021 à partir de une heure du matin.

2021-02-07_Triplet-Lion_350D+CLS+SW-Lunette-80-600_8i-30mn-800a_500_BtLV_001-01a_fg

Date : 2023-02-28

Objet :M65-66 / NGC3628

Instrument : Lunette 80 ED Esprit Super APO Sky_Watcher

Camera : ZWO ASI1600 MC / Filtre = IrCut / Temp = -15°c / Gain= 139 / Offset = 21

Durée pose unitaire = 180s / Nombre de pose : 53

Traitement SIRIL et PHOTOSHOP / Gestion Stellarmate

Equipment:

GSO RC8

1800mm f8

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW10

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11 LFE Photo

Guiding:

Starlight Lodestar an Celestron OAG + PHD

Date: Januar 2013

M65 - M66 - NGC 3628: Leo Triplet

Optics: Skyrover 130SA 130mm f/5 Refractor

Camera: ZWO ASI6200MM Pro

Blue: 42x300 sec

Green: 39x300 sec

Lum: 58x300 sec

Red: 42x300 sec

starbase.insightobservatory.com/home

nova.astrometry.net/user_images/11726687#annotated

Calibration

Center (RA, Dec):(169.427, 13.151)

Center (RA, hms):11h 17m 42.536s

Center (Dec, dms):+13° 09' 04.980"

Size:1.91 x 1.56 deg

Radius:1.233 deg

Pixel scale:1.19 arcsec/pixel

Tags:

The star n Leo

73 Leo

NGC 3593

NGC 3623

M 65

NGC 3627

M 66

NGC 3628

The Leo Triplet or M66 Group. A small galaxy group approximately 35 million light years distant. NGC3628 is at the top left, M65 is on the right and M66 is at the bottom.

Luminance imaged from London on the nights of the 29th and 31st March, 4 hours integration consisting of 60 second subs. Luminance only using a Hutech IDAS LPS filter

RGB imaged from London on the 11th April 2019,30 minutes integration each colour channel consisting of 30 second subs.

TS65 Quad Astrograph and ASI1600MM Pro camera

ccd: Moravian G3-16200 with EFW + OAG

filters: Optolong LRGB and Astrodon 5-nm Ha/O3

telescope: FSQ 106N f/5

mount: 10Micron GM2000 QCI

guider: Lodestar X2

exposure: L 40x10min + RGB 20x5min (all 1x1)

location: Les Granges, 900 m (Hautes Alpes, France)

software: TheSkyX Pro, CCD Commander, Pixinsight, PS CC

date: 17 - 28 Mar 2020

NGC 3628 is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo. This image is a 3 x drizzle crop of my recent image of the Leo Triplet.

ASI2600mmp and TS 130/910 mm triplet apo.

110 x 90 s luminance

40 x 90 s blue

40 x 90 s green

36 x 90 s red

The Triangulum Galaxy

See on Fluidr

To see more of my work and to buy prints visit www.jklovelacephotography.com/pages/space

Leo Triplet

Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello

The Leo Triplet (or M66 Group) is a small group of galaxies at 35 million light-years in Leo. This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628.

M65 11h 18m 56.0s +13° 05′ 32″

Messier 65 (NGC 3623) is an intermediate spiral galaxy and It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.

M66 11h 20m 15.0s +12° 59′ 30″

Messier 66 (NGC 3627) is an intermediate spiral galaxy at 36 million light-years. It was also discovered by Charles Messier in 1780.

NGC 3628 11h 20m 17.0s +13° 35′ 23″

NGC 3628, the Hamburger Galaxy is an unbarred spiral galaxy. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

NGC3628

LRGB data from Telescope Live. Processed with PixInsight. Grayscale version.

app.telescope.live/en

nova.astrometry.net/user_images/13379326#annotated

M65 M66 NGC3628

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

Distance 30 Mio. Lj

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

ZWO ASI 1600mmc

Astrodon LRGB

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

RGB per 12x120s

Luminanz 60x120s

total exposure time: ca. 192 min

20.03.2018

Processing: PixInsight/CaptureOne

LeoTriplett, Leo Cluster or Leo Group

Distance 35 Mly

Equipment:

TS 10" f/4 ONTC Newton

1000mm f4

ZWO ASI 1600mmc

Astrodon LRGB

Losmandy G11/LFE Photo

Guding:

Lodestar on TS Optics - ultra short 9mm Off Axis Guider

PHD2

M65 M66:

70x120 Lum

RGB 3x12x120s RGB

total exposure time: 212 min

20.02.2018

NGC3628:

Luminanz 70x120s

RGB 3x12x120s

total exposure time: 192 min

20.03.2018

Processing: PixInsight

Equipment:

GSO RC8 + CCDT67 Reducer

1100mm f5,5

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW10

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11 LFE Photo

Guiding:

Starlight Lodestar an Celestron OAG + PHD

Date: Dezember 2014

Lights: 153x45" (1h55)

DOF: 30

Iso: 800 / 1600 (Suite shot de contrôle et oubli de reparamétrée les isos)

Traitement: PixInsight / PS / DxO PhotoLab / Topaz Denoise

Nikon D3100 (Non Défiltré)

Skywatcher 80ED Equinox (80x500)

Télévue TV85 Field Flatteneur 0.8x

Skywatcher Az-Gti Equatorial Mode

I took this during a rare period of consecutive clear nights and was imaged after finishing off the Christmas Tree nebula. This was taken over 2 nights. The conditions were clear but the rather unstable atmosphere made guiding difficult. Though the galaxies are fine I’m not happy with the stars.

OBJECT DESCRIPTIONS:-

M65, M 66 & NGC3628 are part off the Leo Triplet. These Galaxies Lie approximately between 31 & 35 million ly from earth.

M65 is believed to have very little star formation going on and the number of old stars compered to new ones is quit high. It has a visual magnitude of 10.25.

M66 is believed to have had a interaction with NGC3628 in the past resulting in a very high central mass. There have been 5 supernovae observed between 1973 & 2018. It has a visual magnitude of 8.9.

NGC3628 also known as the Hamburger Galaxy. it is a unbarred spiral galaxy with a visual magnitude of 10.2.

EQUIPMENT:-

Explore Scientific 102mm F7 APO Carbon

Focal Reducer: Explore Scientific 0.7

Mount: AZ-EQ6 GT

ZWO ASI1600mm-Cool cmos camera

Orion Mini Auto Guide

ZWO L,R,G,B Filters

Chip Temp Cooled to -15 degC

IMAGING DETAILS:-

M66, M65 and NGC3628 (Leo)

Gain 139 (Unit Gain)

25 Red subs@180sec (1h 15min)

25 Green subs@180sec (1h 15min)

25 Blue subs@180sec (1h 15min)

50 lum subs@120sec (1h 40min)

Total imaging Time 5h 25min

Dithering

20 Darks

20 Flats

PROCESSING/GUIDING SOFTWARE:-

N.I.N.A

PHD2

DSS

GraXpert AI

StarNet++

Siril

Affinity photo 2

Equipment:

GSO RC8 + CCDT67 Reducer

1100mm f5,5

Moravian CCD G2-8300FW10

Astrodon LRGB Filter

Losmandy G11 LFE Photo

Guiding:

Starlight Lodestar an Celestron OAG + PHD

Date: April 2013

The Leo Triplet is a small group of galaxies in the constellation Leo and include Messier 65 (M65), Messier 66 (M66) and NGC 3628 (a beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy). The trio is estimated to be some 30-million light-years away. In this image, M65 is in the upper right, M66 in the lower right and NGC 3628 on the left.

Tech Specs: Sky Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro running at 0C, Celestron CGEM-DX Mount Pier Mounted, ZWO EAF, 121 x 60 second exposures with dark/flat frames, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Image date: May 13, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle 4 Zone).

www.astrobin.com/qtb524/

NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy or Sarah's Galaxy, is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. It has an approximately 300,000 light-years long tidal tail.

Close to 20 hours of integration in LRGB with additional Ha in red channel.

Technical card

Imaging telescope or lens:Altair Astro RC250-TT 10" RC Truss Tube

Imaging camera:ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool

Mount:Mesu 200 Mk2

Guiding telescope or lens:Celestron OAG Deluxe

Guiding camera:QHYCCD QHY5III174

Focal reducer:Riccardi Reducer/Flattener 0.75x

Software:Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight , Seqence Generator Pro

Filters:Astrodon R Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon G Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon B Gen.2 E-series 36mm, Astrodon HA 36mm - 5nm, Astrodon L Gen.2 E-series 36mm

Accessories:TALON6 R.O.R, ZWO EFW, MoonLite NiteCrawler WR30

Resolution: 1748x1632

Dates:Feb. 2, 2020, Feb. 12, 2020, Feb. 19, 2020, Feb. 21, 2020, Feb. 25, 2020

Frames:

Astrodon B Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 45x180" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon G Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 45x180" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon HA 36mm - 5nm: 12x600" (gain: 200.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon L Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 220x180" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Astrodon R Gen.2 E-series 36mm: 45x180" (gain: 75.00) -20C bin 1x1

Integration: 19.8 hours

Avg. Moon age: 16.22 days

Avg. Moon phase: 32.64%

Astrometry.net job: 3323467

RA center: 11h 20' 16"

DEC center: +13° 35' 20"

Pixel scale: 1.007 arcsec/pixel

Orientation: 359.311 degrees

Field radius: 0.335

Locations: AAS Montsec, Àger, Lleida, Spain

Data source: Own remote observatory

Remote source: Non-commercial independent facility

Taken w/ Skywatcher Evostar 80ED (w/.85X reducer), Nikon D3300, 100x30s Lights, ~100 bias, ~100 flats, 1600 ISO. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker and Post-processed in Photoshop.

This is a re-process of a very old set of data using some new post-processing software.

1100mm/F7.3 telescope

Pentax 645z (astro-modified)

total exposure time = 21.5 hr

see www.astrobin.com/jjamtq/E/?nc=all for more technical details.

A first attempt at the well-known triangle of galaxies known as the Leo Triplet.

On the top, NGC3628 aka the Hamburger galaxy; below, M66 and M65.

I'm particularly pleased to have got 3 extra bonus galaxies in the frame: right up in the top-left the tiny fuzzy IC2782, with IC2776 just below and IC2763 in the middle of the left edge of the frame.

Nearly two hours' data, Altair 26C at gain 100 with Neodymium filter, 3-minute subs, and plenty darks+flats+bias calibrations as well.

Imaged April 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th 2018, near Cambridge UK.

3x drizzle repro.

Image Details:

13 hours 30 mins total exposure.

19 x 600s Lum 1x1 (3 hours 10mins)

17 x 600s Red 1x1 (2 hours 50mins)

23 x 600s Green 1x1 (3 hours 50mins)

22 x 600s Blue 1x1 (3 hours 40mins)

Scope - Altair Astro Wave Series 115mm Refractor, Planostar 0.79x reduced to 642mm/F5.54.

Sensor - Atik 383l+ Mono CCD + Baader HaLRGB filters. -20degC.

Scale - 1.73 arcsec/pixel.

Mount - Altair Astro Pier mounted iOptron CEM60.

Guiding - Lodestar X2 and SX OAG with PHD2.

Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight.

Thanks for looking.

Imagen del Triplete de Leo , galaxias M66 a la derecha arriba, M65 a la izquierda y NGC3628 abajo, las galaxias principales , y multitud de pequeñas galaxias IC, PGC y UGC. Son algo mas de siete horas con el equipo habitual desde Valdin Orense, con el filtro LPro en RGB. Procesada con Pixinsight y terminada con PS.

En NGC 3628 se puede ver una cola de marea hacia su derecha lo que suguiere que es como consecuencia de su interacción con las otras dos galaxias. Su nucleo parece tener un agujero negro como indican sus emisiones variables de rayos x, y su banda de polvo central se ve deformada en los bordes como consecuencia de su interacción con las otras dos galaxias.

M66 esta catalogada con una galaxia especial tal como se ve en sus brazos espirales deformados por la interacción con las otra galaxias.

Las tres galaxias se encuentran 35 millones de años luz.

Galaxies are gigantic far away systems of billions of stars each, held together by gravity. The Milky Way is our home galaxy in which our single star and solar system lives.

These are the Leo Trio found in the constellation Leo the Lion. But it is no coincidence that they look like they are together. They actually are quite close to each other and are interacting with each other. The top one, NGC 3628 known as the Hamburger Galaxy and the lower left, M66 came close to each other a long time ago. The disruption caused by gravity can be seen with a tidal stream coming off the Hamburger galaxy and the distorted spiral arms in M66 with intense star birth at its centre. The lower right galaxy, M65 seems calm, but it too will eventually experience crazy distortions as it is getting very close to M66. I imaged the Leo Trio over 13 moonless nights this past winter. I gathered 40 hours of total data using LRGB and hydrogen-alpha filters.

Equipment:

Telescope: Ceravolo300mm at f/4.9 (1470mm focal length)

Camera: SBIG STX 16803 CCD camera

Picture saved wThe Leo Triplet is a small group of galaxies in the constellation Leo and include Messier 65 (M65), Messier 66 (M66) and NGC 3628 (a beautiful edge-on spiral galaxy). The trio is estimated to be some 30-million light-years away. In this image, M65 is in the upper right, M66 in the lower right and NGC 3628 on the left.

Tech Specs: Sky Watcher Esprit 120ED, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ZWO ASI2600MC-P camera, 93 x 60 seconds at -10C with darks from the library and flats taken the next morning, guided using a ZWO 30mm f/4 mini guide scope and ZWO 120 Mini, focus using a ZWO EAF. Captured using ZWO AAP and processed using PixInsight. Image date: March 3, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).ith settings embedded.

A lovely clear night back in April allowed me to squeeze in (despite shortening nights) this LRGB image of this iconic triplet of galaxies in the constellation of Leo.

Two of the galaxies are found within Charles Messier's catalogue - M65 (right) & M66 (bottom). The third galaxy is to be found in the NGC catalogue as NGC 3628 - also known as the "Hamburger Galaxy"

This is a true group of interacting galaxies and lying at a distance of around 35 million lightyears from us.

Our viewpoint means we see these three systems tilted at different angles - NGC 3628 appears edge on (displaying lots of dust and a prominent dust lane.

M65 & M66 are inclined enough so that their spiral arms are visible.

What's more the three galaxies exhibit rather different characteristics.

M66 - A barred spiral and the largest and brightest shows a high rate of star formation - evident by the extensive red regions of glowing hydrogen gas. It also shows deformed drawn out spiral arms - evidence of the interactive gravitational forces within the group.

M65 - An, intermediate spiral, is poor in dust and star formation. It appears the least by affected by interactions showing a more or less classical spiral shape.

NGC 3628 is an unbarred spiral which we are seeing edge on. The galaxy is transacted by a broad band of dust which stretches along its outer edge hiding young stars in the galaxy's arms.

Imaged with a Skywatcher Esprit 120ED and a ZWO 1600mm camera equipped with Baader LRGB filters.

34 x L 120s

23 x R 180s

22 x G 180s

20 x B 180s

All @-20° 139 gain (Unity)

Flat, Darks

Processed using APP and Photoshop.

Thanks for looking!