The Leo Triplet (also known as the M66 Group ) is a small group of galaxies about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo . This galaxy group consists of the spiral galaxies M65 , M66 , and NGC 3628 .
4-637: The table below lists galaxies that have been consistently identified as group members in the Nearby Galaxies Catalog, the Lyons Groups of Galaxies (LGG) Catalog, and the group lists created from the Nearby Optical Galaxy sample of Giuricin et al. Additionally, some of the references cited above indicate that one or two other nearby galaxies may be group members. NGC 3593 is frequently but not consistently identified as
8-474: A member of the Leo Triplet group. This galaxy is known to contain two counter-rotating populations of stars—that is, one set of stars is rotating in the opposite direction with respect to the other. One means for this to occur is by acquiring gas from an external source, which then undergoes star formation. An alternative is by a merger with a second galaxy. Neither scenario has been ruled out. The age of
12-551: A member of this group. The M96 Group is located physically near the Leo Triplet. These two groups may actually be separate parts of a much larger group, and some group identification algorithms actually identify the Leo Triplet as part of the M96 Group. NGC 3593 NGC 3593 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Leo . It has a morphological classification of SA(s)0/a, which indicates it
16-422: Is a lenticular galaxy of the pure spiral type. Despite this, it has a large amount of hydrogen , both in its molecular ( H 2 ) and atomic (H) form. It is a starburst galaxy , which means it is forming new stars at a high rate. This is occurring in a band of gas surrounding the central nucleus. There is a single arm, which spirals outward from this ring. It is frequently but not consistently identified as
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