Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (Heavens Mirror Observatory)
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.
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