Leo Triplet

The Leo Triplet, also known as the M66 Group, is a group of interacting spiral galaxies located approximately 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It consists primarily of three prominent galaxies: Messier 65 (M65), Messier 66 (M66), and NGC 3628. These galaxies are gravitationally bound and exhibit signs of tidal interactions, such as distorted spiral arms and warped disks.

• Messier 66 is the largest and brightest member, spanning about 100,000 light-years across, with asymmetric arms likely shaped by gravitational forces from its neighbours.

• Messier 65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy with a relatively faint appearance due to low dust and gas content.

• NGC 3628, often called the "Hamburger Galaxy" due to its edge-on orientation and prominent dust lane, displays a massive tidal tail stretching over 300,000 light-years, a result of intense gravitational interaction.

The trio can be observed in a single field of view with amateur telescopes.