Messier 65 and Messier 66

Constellation: Leo

Messier 65 (right) and Messier 66 (left), along with NGC 3628 (the Humburger galaxy) forms the Leo Triplet (see below), a small group of galaxies in the constellation of Leo. They are about 35 million Ly from Earth. Messier 65 (NGC 3623) and Messier 66 (NGC 3627) are intermediate spiral galaxies. Link to interactive sky chart.

Dates:

This is derived from the outstanding data taken by Martin Pugh during the month of January 2025 (Martin’s website: Remote Astrophotography with Martin Pugh (martinpughastrophotography.space).

His telescope is located in Chile (Observatory: El Sauce).

Telescope & Mount:

Planewave CDK24 with 0.66x reducer (F/4.37) on a Planewave L600 mount.

Imaging:

Camera: Moravian G3-61000 (bin 2×2)
Data:
Astrodon L: 30x600s
Astrodon R: 9x600s
Astrodon G: 13x600s
Astrodon B: 12x600s
Astrodon Ha: 13x300s

Total integration time: 22h 25′

The Leo Triplet:

The Leo Triplet is a small group of galaxies. Image taken in May 2022 with a Celestron 9.25″ EdgeHD+Hyperstar, a ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro camera and the Optolong L-pro filter. Total integration time is 4h 10′.

Link to interactive sky chart.