M65

Alt. Designations:

NGC 3623, ARP 317

Object Type:

Barred Spiral Galaxy

Constellation:

Leo

Distance:

35 mly

Right Ascension:

11h 18m 55.6s

Declination:

+13° 05´ 27"

Visual Magnitude:

9.3

Apparent Dimension:

9.8´ x 2.9´

Best Month To View:

Feb

Located in the constellation of Leo is a small triplet of galaxies. One of its members is M65. This is a spiral galaxy located about 35 million light-years from us. It has an obvious elliptical shape, due to the fact that we are viewing it from an angle. The galaxy's magnitude of 9.3 may make it a bit challenging to find with binoculars, but it is an easy target for the telescope. As is the rule with most galaxies, bigger is definitely better. The light gathering power of a large telescope will reveal much more detail in the galaxy's disk.