M65 (upper left) is a spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away, M66 (upper right) is a spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away, and NGC 3628 is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away. All three are in the constellation Leo and are known as the Leo Triplet. NGC 3628 is unique because of the 300,000 light-years long tidal tail comprised of stars, dust, and gas.

Technical Information       

Date:                        March, 2014

Location:                  Green Valley, Arizona

Telescope:               Takahashi FSQ-106EDX

Camera:                   SBIG STT-8300M

Filters:                      Astrodon Gen 2

Mount:                      AstroPhysics 1200

Exposure:                 LRGB = 610:120:120:120 minutes, all unbinned

Software:                  Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSkyX, Pinpoint, CCD Commander

                                 Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS6 with various plugins