Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 March 21
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                                The Leo Trio
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Rabeea Alkuwari

   Explanation: This popular group leaps into the early evening sky around
   the March equinox and [5]the northern hemisphere spring. Famous as the
   [6]Leo Triplet, the three magnificent galaxies found in the prominent
   [7]constellation Leo gather here in one astronomical field of view.
   Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, they can be
   introduced individually as NGC 3628 (bottom left), M66 (middle right),
   and M65 (top center). All three are large [8]spiral galaxies but tend
   to look dissimilar, because their galactic disks are tilted at
   different angles to our line of sight. [9]NGC 3628, also known as the
   Hamburger Galaxy, is temptingly seen edge-on, with obscuring dust lanes
   cutting across its puffy galactic plane. The disks [10]of M66 and
   [11]M65 are both inclined enough to show off their spiral structure.
   Gravitational interactions between galaxies in the group have left
   telltale signs, including the tidal tails and warped, inflated disk of
   NGC 3628 and the drawn out spiral arms of M66. [12]This gorgeous view
   of the region spans over 1 degree (two full moons) on the sky. Captured
   with a telescope from Sawda Natheel, Qatar, planet Earth, the frame
   covers over half a million light-years at the Leo Trio's estimated 30
   million light-year distance.

                    Tomorrow's picture: one hand clapping
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC,
                         [33]NASA Science Activation
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2503/image_1236LeoTrio.JPG
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/bolahdan/?hl=en
   5. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-vernal-or-spring-equinox
   6. http://messier.seds.org/more/m066gr.html
   7. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/leo-heres-your-constellation
   8. http://cass.ucsd.edu/archive/public/tutorial/Galaxies.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140508.html
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-66/
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-65/
  12. https://app.astrobin.com/u/RabeeaCaptures?i=6fifk8
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250320.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250321
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250322.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/