Explanation:
Nearby and bright, spiral galaxies M65 (top) and M66
stand out in this
engaging
cosmic snapshot.
The pair are just 35 million light-years distant and around
100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own
spiral Milky Way.
While both exhibit prominent dust lanes sweeping along
their broad spiral arms,
M66 in particular is a striking
contrast in red and blue hues;
the telltale pinkish glow of hydrogen gas in
star forming regions and young
blue star clusters.
M65 and M66 make up two thirds of the well-known
Leo Triplet
of galaxies with
warps and tidal tails
that offer evidence of the group's past
close encounters.
The larger M66
has been host to four supernovae discovered since 1973.
