Wide-field view of Messier 66
Date: 08 April 2010
Satellite: Hubble Space Telescope
Depicts: Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628)
Copyright: NASA, ESA and and Digitized Sky Survey 2 . Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
This wide-field image of the sky around the spiral galaxy Messier 66 was created from photographs forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Located about 35 million light-years away from Earth, this galaxy is about 100 000 light-years across. The field of view is approximately 3.0 by 2.2 degrees across. North is up in this image.
Messier 66 (M66) is a member of the Leo Triplet, a trio of interacting spiral galaxies. The other two member galaxies are Messier 65 (slightly higher and to the right of M66 in this image) and edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628 (top centre).
Last Update: 1 September 2019
