The Leo Triplet is a group of galaxies, M65, M66 and NGC 3628, about 35 million light-years away in Leo. Their mutual gravity has stretched and distorted their spiral arms, and NGC 3628 is seen edge-on, crossed by a dark band of dust.
M65 and M66 were discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780, and NGC 3628 by William Herschel in 1784. Deep exposures of NGC 3628, sometimes nicknamed the Hamburger Galaxy, reveal a faint tidal tail some 300,000 light-years long, a trace of past gravitational encounters within the group.
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The Leo Triplet (M65, M66, NGC 3628)
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