Galaxies
Messier 66 in Leo
This barred spiral galaxy is around 31 million lightyears distant, and with a diameter of around 95,000 lightyears, is therefore slightly smaller than our own galaxy. It is one of the Leo Triplet galaxies, and the asymmetry is probably due to a gravitational interaction with neighbouring NGC 3528.
The image is the result of 3h40m of LRGB data capture from Horsham, over 2 consecutive evenings in March 2022. A ZWO ASI2600MM Pro monochrome camera was used, through an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain reflector.
Date: 26/03/2022
Location: Horsham, West Sussex
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
