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M 65 is a spiral galaxy in Leo, discovered by Messier in 1780 (although some authors attributed, erroneously, its discovery to Méchain. Together with M 66 and NGC 3628 they form the so called Leo Triplet. M 65 is farther away than M 66 and has a core with little star formation (low in gas/dust), but there is some star-birth activity in the arms. This galaxy is seen nearly edge-on, what prevents us from seeing the theoretical central bar that should exist due to the tidal disruptions provoked by its neighbors.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): M 65. NGC 3623.
Type: Barred Spiral galaxy
RA: 11h 18m 55s
Dec: +13º 05’ 32”
Constellation: Leo
Size (arcmin): 10×3
Magnitude: +9.3
Distance: 39 Mly
Image
Date: 2014-03-09
Location: Corbera de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia
Size (arcmin): 27×16
Telescope: Celestron 11” HD f/10
Camera: FLI ML6303 (3072x2048pix)
Guiding: Orion SSAG/Nikkor 500mm f/8
Total exposure: 90 min (L: 10x3min; RGB 10x2min each)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2016 and PixInsight