Stellar Shot of the Week
SVX140T - Leo Triplet
Larry Ammann captured this striking shot of the Leo Triplet (M66 Group) with his SVX140T. Resting approximately 35 million light-years away from Earth, this galaxy group is located in the constellation Leo. It is made up of intermediate spiral galaxies M65 and M66, as well as unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 3628.
According to Larry:
“The Leo Triplet is a group of 3 galaxies about 35 million light-years distant. M65 (top right) is a spiral galaxy containing mostly old stars, although it shows evidence of recent star formation most likely due to past interactions with its neighbors. M66 (bottom right) is a barred spiral galaxy with loosely wound spiral arms. NGC 3628 (left), the Hamburger Galaxy, has a tidal tail that extends approximately 300,000 light years. To bring out NGC 3628's tail, I combined luminance data with RGB. In addition to the main members of the group, numerous small background galaxies also are visible. The data for this image was captured over three nights from Bortle 1 skies in central Texas.”
Other Designations: M66 Group, Arp 317, LGG 231, NOGG P1 533, NOGG P2 543, Leo Triplet
Details:
Scope: SVX140T
Focuser/rotator: WR35 Moonlite Nitecrawler
Reducer Flattener: SFFRX-130140 (reduces 140 to 750mm, f/5.4)
Camera: ASI6200MM
Mount: Paramount MYT (upgraded)
Filters: Chroma 50mm R,G,B,L
Subs: 166x120secs Blu, 165x120secs Grn, 165x120secs Red, 120x120secs Lum
Total integration time: 20.5 hrs
Mount and camera control: TheSky64, NINA
Location: Starfront Observatories
References:
Wikipedia contributors. (2026a, January 9). Leo Triplet. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Triplet
Admin. (2025, April 8). Leo Triplet – Messier Objects. Messier Objects. https://www.messier-objects.com/leo-triplet/
