Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  IC 2763  ·  M 65  ·  M 66  ·  NGC 3623  ·  NGC 3627  ·  NGC 3628
The Leo Triplet, wspba
The Leo Triplet
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The Leo Triplet

The Leo Triplet, wspba
The Leo Triplet
Powered byPixInsight

The Leo Triplet

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The Leo Triplet is a group of three interacting spiral galaxies located in the constellation Leo. The three galaxies, M65, M66, and NGC 3628, are at distances of approximately 30, 34, and 37 million light years from Earth, respectively. They are named after the constellation they are located in.The gravitational interactions between the three galaxies have caused them to distort and stretch, forming beautiful shapes. All three galaxies contain large numbers of stars and interstellar matter. M65 and M66 are considered to be Seyfert galaxies, meaning that they have very bright, active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes. NGC 3628 is a smaller spiral galaxy that also exhibits long dust lanes and star-forming regions.

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The Leo Triplet, wspba