Explanation:
M65 is a big,
beautiful spiral galaxy, the sixty-fifth object
in the famous astronomical catalog compiled by 18th century
cosmic tourist
Charles
Messier.
It's also a member of a picturesque trio of large
spiral
galaxies known as the
Leo Triplet,
about 35 million light-years away.
This sharp view
of M65 shows off the galaxy in
remarkable detail, with tightly wound spiral arms
and dust lanes stretching into a core dominated
by the yellowish light from an older population of stars.
In fact,
M65 seems to be the least disturbed of the Leo Trio,
though it is close enough to be interacting
gravitationally with the other two galaxies (not seen here).
Very nearly edge-on to our
line-of-sight, M65 is about 100,000 light-years across,
similar in size to our
Milky Way
Galaxy.
