Messier 65 (M65)

Also Known as: NGC 3623

Object Type: Spiral Galaxy

Constellation: Leo

Distance from Earth: 35 million light years

Apparent Magnitude: 10.25

Coordinates: RA 11H 18M 55.9S DEC 13 deg 05 min 55.9 sec

Actual Size: 90,000 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 8.709 arc-minutes x 2.454 arc-minutes

Discovered by: Messier 65 was discovered by Charles Messier, but William Herschel wrongly attributed the discovery to Messier’s friend Pierre Méchain in his work A Cycle of Celestial Objects and Kenneth Glyn Jones picked up the error in the 1960s.
A number of sources now wrongly credit Méchain for the discovery even though Messier never acknowledged his colleague’s sighting. Messier discovered M65 and M66 on March 1, 1780.
He described M65 as a “nebula discovered in Leo: It is very faint and contains no star.”

Description: M65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy that forms the Leo Triplet with nearby M66 and NGC 3628.
It is one of the most popular targets among amateur astronomers since it can be seen in the same field of view as M66 and NGC 3628.
The Leo Triplet, also known as the M66 Group, is a small grouping of galaxies that are known to be gravitationally interacting with each other.
The interaction has affected all three galaxies, but M65 is the least affected of the group.
With tightly wound spiral arms, a conspicuous central lens and a dust lane along the facing edge, M65 appears like a normal spiral galaxy.
It is moving away from us at a velocity of about 807 km/s.
Messier 65 contains little dust and gas and, even though its spiral arms show some evidence of recent star forming activity, there is overall little star formation occurring in it and the ratio of old, evolved stars to young ones is quite high.
The recent star formation and the galaxy’s disk, which appears slightly warped, both indicate that M65 is interacting with its large neighbors.
The galaxy may also have a central bar, which may indicate tidal disruption, but it is difficult to confirm the existence of the bar because M65 is positioned at an oblique angle when seen from Earth.
It actually contains little dust and gas even though its spiral arms some evidence of star forming activity.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

The galaxy lies in the eastern part of Leo.
Thanks to its high surface brightness, it is visible even in small binoculars and appears as an oval shaped patch, along with its bright neighbor M66. Small telescopes begin to reveal the structure of the pair, with a bright central core surrounded by a thin disk of light. To see the third member of the Leo Triplet, however, one needs at least a 6-inch telescope. Larger telescopes reveal the dark dust lanes and other details of M65.

The best time to observe M65 is in the spring months.

Platesolve

M65 Spiral Galaxy

Imaging Details
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