Messier 65 is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, within its highly equatorial southern half. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. With M66 and NGC 3628, it forms the Leo Triplet, a small close group of galaxies.
Image taken by Hubble Space Telescope, December 30, 2013. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Messier 65 by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
HST image of M65
M65 by Hubble Space Telescope
Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles as one of his twelve labors. Its old astronomical symbol is (♌︎). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Leo remains one of the 88 modern constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its many bright stars and a distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion it depicts.
The constellation Leo as it can be seen by the naked eye (the bright object in the center of the picture is the planet Jupiter in March 2004).
Leo, with Leo Minor above, as depicted in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825
Messier 66
The notable gravitational lens known as the Cosmic Horseshoe
