NGC 3169, NGC 3166 and NGC 3165 in Leo

Three clustered galaxies are in the center of the field and vary from 62 to 66 million light years distant from the Sun. The two largest and brightest are NGC 3169 (left) and NGC 3166 (center). To the immediate right is NGC 3165. NGC 3169 and NGC 3166 are large galaxies only separated by 160,000 light years and are exerting massive gravitational influences on each other resulting in warped disruption of the spiral galaxy shape of NGC 3169. In the lower right field of view is a 4th galaxy (NGC 3156). Bright nearby stars are in the foreground of the image and are labeled in the annotated image. Additional astronomical information about the galaxies and stars are in the annotated image (click above link).

• Location/Date: Gainesville FL, April 1, 2021
• Telescope: Astro-Tech 10" Ritchey Chretien
• Camera: QHY600M
• Guider: Astro-Physics 80x900; Lodestar X2
• Mount: Astro-Physics 1100GTO
• Image Acquisition/Guiding Software: N.I.N.A./PHD2
• Image Processing: PixInsight; Photoshop
• Captures: 200s subframes; RGB 14 each