The Leo Triplet
Click here for full size tiff image.
This lovely trio of spiral galaxies includes edge-on NGC 3628, M65 (top left) and M66 (bottom Left). These galaxies together made it into Halton Arp's Catalog of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 317
There's just a hint of a tidal star stream off the lower left tip of NGC 3628, which is evidently due to the gravitational interaction of the other two galaxies.. Arp and Margaret Burbidge contend that the star stream is due to quasar activity, not gravitational interaction with the other two galaxies.
M65 is an Sa type galaxy 35 million light years away. Radio images of the galaxy show a mysterious source located 2 arcminutes from the center. It gets its own Arp designation, #16.
M66 was home to supernove 1989b, as well as two others before that.
luminance: 13 x 600 sec, R 1500 sec GB 2100 sec unbinned. Images recorded between 12/24/07 and 02/12/08.
Equipment: Televue NP-101 and SXV-H9 camera mounted on a G-11.
Processing: Combined in Maxim D/L and CCDstack, processed in Photoshop CS2 with Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools.
Processing of this was straightforward. I did deconvolve the luminance layer just a bit, and also ddp on both luminance and color data.