M65 & M66
- Type
- Galaxy
- Integration
- 17h
M65 and M66
Two of the Leo Triplet
This was the first time I brought Ha data into a galaxy image. It seems to have introduced a fair amount of noise, though, so I still need to work out how best to blend it into the LRGB.
From what I found online:
This pair of galaxies lies about 35 million light-years from Earth and spans some 100,000 light-years, roughly the size of our own Milky Way. M66 in particular shows a marked contrast between the red and blue bands. M65 and M66 are two members of the famous Leo Triplet; the third is the Hamburger Galaxy. They lie close enough to one another that their outward shapes have become distorted, and they display tidal tails.
Planewave CDK 17"
Paramount ME
SBIG STXL 11002
LRGBHax68, 900sec
Location: El Sauce, Chile
Software: PixInsight, Photoshop